TikTok, the popular video sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance, has faced significant legal and political challenges in the United States over the past few years, leading it to be banned in the U.S. in January under a federal law that forces ByteDance to divest its stakes or face an embargo.
Officials argue that TikTok could expose sensitive American user data to the Chinese government, a claim that the company strongly denies.
According to The Associated Press, President Donald Trump has directed his justice department to pause enforcement of the ban until early April granting TikTok time to secure a U.S. buyer. The reprieve has given the company more time to work out a deal with the administration and a temporary relief to the platform’s millions of American users.
TikTok videos are popular among North Lake Campus students. Justin Rabun is pursuing degree in science. He uses TikTok around once a week to look up recipes.
“I feel like it has a positive outlook on my life, because I don’t use it often, like some people,” he said. Rabun supports the ban and thinks it would keep young people off social media. He doesn’t think selling the app would make a difference.
Veterinary technician student Ingrid Ramirez uses TikTok almost every day. She uses the app to look up recipes and meal preparation. “I do search up. Like, sometimes it does help and it’s fast. I get to see what I’m doing,” she said.
Jackeline Barrientos is studying political science. She uses the app every day for several hours and feels that TikTok has had a negative impact on her life.
“I get kind of distracted sometimes, especially if I’m here trying to do work,” she said. She feels like the government should be putting resources to a better use and doesn’t think it will matter if the app is sold to an American company. “Unless I guess like the algorithm or something changes, like the way you use it, I don’t think it’ll really matter to me,” Berrientos said.
The potential ban has led to a surge in demand for devices preloaded with the TikTok app. Some people have started to sell such devices on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace, with some listings reaching prices as high as $50,000.
According to The Associated Press, several investors, including billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have spoken publicly about their desire to purchase TikTok’s U.S. platform. Microsoft was also reportedly interested in purchasing the social media platform.
The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI presented a proposal to ByteDance in January. The deal would allow the U.S. government to own up to 50% of an entity that combines TikTok’s U.S. platform with Perplexity’s business. If successful, the proposal would allow the U.S. government to have a sizable stake in that entity once it makes an Initial Public Offering of at least $300 billion.
