Restrictions on TikTok in the United States
Updated: Wikipedia source
The short-form video-hosting service TikTok has been under a de jure nationwide ban in the United States since January 19, 2025, due to the US government's concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by the government of the People's Republic of China. However, the ban has yet to be enforced. The ban took effect after ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, refused to sell the service before the deadline of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). Prior to the ban, individual states, cities, universities, and government-affiliated devices had restricted TikTok. In 2020, President Donald Trump proposed a ban of the app TikTok, describing it as a potential national security risk. In August, he signed an executive order telling ByteDance to divest from the app, but a court blocked the order with an injunction in September. The Biden administration later reversed the order in 2021. In 2024, with lawmakers and federal agencies voicing renewed security concerns, Congress introduced The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It set a deadline for the app to be banned unless a qualified divestment was made before then. After TikTok filed a legal challenge, the Supreme Court upheld the law. On January 18, 2025, the day before the deadline of the law, TikTok voluntarily suspended its services in the United States, even though Biden had declined to enforce the ban on his last day in office. The following day, after President-elect Trump signaled that he would grant an extension to TikTok upon being inaugurated, services were restored. On January 20, the first day of his term, Trump signed an executive order that halted enforcement of the ban for a 75-day period while his administration pursues a potential sale of TikTok to American owners. This brought the deadline to April 5. On April 4, Trump signed an executive order to delay the ban's enforcement for another 75 days, to June 19. Then, on June 19, Trump signed yet another executive order, extending the deadline to September 17. With each delay, the Trump administration sent letters to TikTok's service providers, claiming a sweeping power to effectively set aside laws.