TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill

Extracted Attributes

• Purpose

  Mandate ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban

• Official Name

  Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA)

• Current Status

  Signed into law; enforcement repeatedly delayed by executive orders

• Targeted Company

  ByteDance

• Primary Rationale

  National security concerns regarding potential Chinese government access to user data and influence operations

• Targeted Application

  TikTok

Timeline

• President Donald Trump proposed a ban of TikTok and signed an executive order instructing ByteDance to divest from the app, viewing it as a national security threat. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2020-08-01

• President Trump's executive order to ban TikTok was blocked by a court injunction. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2020-09-01

• The Biden administration reversed President Trump's 2020 executive order regarding TikTok. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2021-01-01

• Missouri Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill to ban TikTok nationwide. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023-01-25

• The White House banned TikTok from government devices. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023-02-01

• Senator Hawley's attempt to force a vote on his bill in the Senate was blocked by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023-03-29

• The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-03-13

• The U.S. Senate officially voted to ban TikTok as part of a larger spending bill. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-04-23

• President Joe Biden signed the TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill (PAFACA) into law. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, related_documents, web_search_results)

  2024-04-24

• TikTok CEO Shou Chew released a statement declaring the company would fight the ban. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-04-24

• TikTok officially filed a petition in federal court to overturn the attempted ban, describing divestment as 'impossible' and the deadline as 'arbitrary'. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-05-07

• A U.S. appeals court announced it would hold oral arguments regarding TikTok's divestment and ban on September 16, 2024. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-06-17

• U.S. appeals court held oral arguments regarding TikTok's divestment and ban. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-09-16

• The U.S. Supreme Court was set to hear arguments from TikTok regarding the ban. (Source: web_search_results)

  2025-01-10

• The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). (Source: web_search_results)

  2025-01-01

• TikTok voluntarily suspended its services in the United States. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-01-18

• The nationwide ban on TikTok was officially set to take effect if no qualified divestment occurred. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, web_search_results)

  2025-01-19

• Following President-elect Trump's signal of an extension, TikTok services were restored. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-01-19

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting enforcement of the ban for 75 days, setting a new deadline of April 5, 2025. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2025-01-20

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban's enforcement for another 75 days, setting a new deadline of June 19, 2025. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-04-04

• President Donald Trump signed another executive order extending the deadline to September 17, 2025. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2025-06-19

Restrictions on TikTok in the United States

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 as he viewed it as a national security threat. In August, he signed an executive order instructing that ByteDance divest from the app, though the order was blocked by a court injunction in September and was reversed by the Biden administration in 2021. However, in 2024, PAFACA was proposed in Congress due to alleged security concerns. The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden, setting a deadline for the app to be banned unless a qualified divestment were made before then. Following a legal challenge from TikTok, the law was upheld by the Supreme Court. 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.

Web Search Results

• TikTok Ban 2025: Everything You Need to Know (Updated)

  April 23, 2024: The US Senate officially votes to ban TikTok as part of passing a larger spending bill. April 24, 2024: A day following the Senate vote, President Biden signs the aforementioned bill into law. TikTok faces a hard deadline of January 19, 2025 to divest. The same day, TikTok CEO Shou Chew releases a statement (on TikTok) declaring that the company will fight the ban because it's unconstitutional. [...] TLDR: Headlines tout a possible TikTok ban but a total ban isn't guaranteed just yet. TikTok still faces a deadline to divest itself or face a ban in January 19, 2025. A sell-off of TikTok from its parent company (Bytedance) would ultimately prevent the ban. The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments from TikTok on January 10th. “Is TikTok going to get banned? What does this mean for my brand?” [...] Source: TikTok May 7, 2024: TikTok officially files a petition in federal court to overturn the attempted ban. The petition describes the suggested divestment as "impossible" and the January 2025 deadline as "arbitrary." Jun 17, 2024: As reported by Reuters, a US appeals court announces that it will hold oral arguments regarding TikTok's divestment and ban on September 16, 2024.

• Restrictions on TikTok in the United States - Wikipedia

  On March 13, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) with largely bipartisan support from Democratic and Republican representatives. It would ban operations related to the app completely within the country unless ByteDance makes a qualified divestiture as determined by the US president. After modifications, the act passed the House again and the United States Senate before it was signed into law [...] In 2020, the United States government announced that it was considering banning the Chinese social media platform TikTok upon a request from Donald Trump, the president of the United States, who viewed the app as a national security threat. The result was that the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance—which initially planned on selling a small portion of TikTok to an American company—agreed to divest TikTok to prevent a ban in the United States and in other countries where restrictions are also [...] On January 25, 2023, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill to ban the platform nationwide. After Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, Hawley's attempt to force a vote on this bill in the Senate was blocked on March 29, 2023, when Kentucky Senator Rand Paul objected.

• TikTok may not be Chinese-owned anymore, but there still is a ...

  President Trump signed an executive order last week approving a deal to keep TikTok available in the U.S. after a 2024 law required the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest or face a ban. According to the White House, the deal is purported to be valued at $14 billion. It would put control of the popular social media platform’s U.S. operations into the hands of a group of American and international investors. The administration has suggested that these investors will also gain [...] The Trump administration negotiated a deal to keep TikTok functional in the U.S. following a law requiring its owner to divest or face a ban. The deal follows concerns from U.S. lawmakers about the national security and privacy implications of the app’s ties to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. [...] later, former President Biden signed a ban that limited the use of the social media app by federal employees, and in 2024, he signed a wider ban that was part of a legislative package focused on providing foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The law required ByteDance to divest by Jan. 19, 2025, or be shut down in the United States, leaving the second Trump presidency responsible for the platform’s fate.

• Lawmakers Question TikTok Deal That Lets ByteDance Keep ...

  President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 25 approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of American and international investors, determining that the arrangement satisfies national security standards set out in a 2024 law. The law was designed to compel ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban.

• The TikTok Ban: What Happened, and Will TikTok Actually Go Away?

  A bipartisan bill to ban TikTok or force its divestiture emerges in Congress. TikTok attempts to stop the bill by bringing creators to Washington to speak on its merits. Around this time, the app sends notifications encouraging users to speak up — resulting in an inundation of calls to congressional offices. ### White House Bans TikTok From Government Devices (February 2023) [...] In early 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), commonly known as “the TikTok ban.” Introduced to Congress in early 2024, this federal law required ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. The Court’s decision reinforced growing concerns about national security, particularly regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and ties to China. [...] ### Senate Passes Legislation Banning TikTok in the U.S. (April 2024) TikTok is likened to a “spy balloon in Americans’ phones” by the House of Representatives, and the ban-or-sell bill is passed. Just one month later, the Senate confirms the bill and President Biden promptly signs it. In May, Bytedance sues to block the law. ### Congress Introduces Bipartisan Bill Banning TikTok (March 2024)