TikTok was banned in the United States on January 19, only to be reinstated 13 hours later by an executive order from President Donald Trump.
He postponed the divestment deadline to April 5, but as the date approaches and the situation has not been resolved, companies like Apple, Google, and Oracle are facing potential multi-billion-dollar liabilities.
That was highlighted by three US senators, who noted that ignoring the requirements of the law is not sustainable in the long term.
A letter to President Trump, signed by Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-PA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), called for a resolution or, at the very least, answers to clarify the situation by March 28.
According to the officials, Apple and Google offering TikTok on their app stores violates the law, and they could face consequences, either from this administration or any future one. Oracle is also under scrutiny because it provides cloud computing services to TikTok.
The US Department of Justice later assured these three companies that the Act would not be enforced, but there is still uncertainty about how long this assurance will last.
The senators emphasized that they oppose banning TikTok, preferring that the company undergo divestment to maintain access for its 170 million US users and 7 million creators. The 75-day extension ends on April 5, which is in 10 days.
Multiple rumors have circulated that US companies might purchase TikTok’s American operations, despite ByteDance’s repeated assertions that splitting the algorithm would be extremely difficult and could take years.
On a somewhat related note, we recently decided to start our own TikTok account. You can expect exclusive content, video reviews, and behind-the-scenes looks that usually don’t make their way to YouTube, and you can find us at @gsmarenateam.
