TikTok ban hits USA: Trump hints at 90‑day suspension

In the United States, a law prohibiting the use of TikTok has come into effect, causing the app to stop working. This decision results from national security concerns related to Chinese control over the app. Future president Donald Trump, who will assume the office of president on Monday, has already announced the possibility of suspending the ban for 90 days.

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, faces challenges related to new American regulations. The law requires ByteDance to sell the American part of the application or face a ban on operations in the USA. The decision is supported by politicians who fear that user data might be available to the Chinese government, posing a significant threat to national security.

TikTok informed users in the USA about the suspension of the app's operations while expressing hope for resolving the situation. President-elect Donald Trump stated that he will work towards reinstating TikTok, which may mean a temporary suspension of the ban to provide more time to find an investor. Interestingly, in a message to users, the company directly mentions the politician's name and emphasizes the willingness to talk. TikTok's CEO, Shou Chew, plans to attend Trump's inauguration, which might indicate the possibility of dialogue on this matter, as reported by "The Wall Street Journal."

To recap, in 2024, the US Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or shut it down by January 19, 2025.

This falls under the act known as the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" (PAFACA), aimed at protecting national security by regulating applications controlled by foreign adversaries. President Joe Biden signed this law on April 24, 2024. PAFACA requires that social media applications owned by entities from countries deemed adversaries of the United States, such as China, be sold to entities outside those countries or cease operations within the USA.

The United States Supreme Court upheld the law, agreeing that Congress’s concerns about data collection by a foreign adversary justify such action.

Warnings about TikTok are not limited to the USA. Canadian intelligence also points out the risk of user data being transferred to the Chinese government, causing controversies in the context of privacy and cybersecurity.

For a long time, American services have warned about the threats associated with TikTok, including the possibility of surveillance by Chinese authorities. The law that has come into effect is part of a broader package aimed at reducing Chinese influence on the American technology market. Congress supported it with an overwhelming majority.

Business relations between the United States and China are complex and tense, especially in technological security, trade, and investment. TikTok, a Chinese app owned by ByteDance, has become a symbol of these tensions, representing both China's growing presence in the global tech market and the USA's concerns about threats to national security.

For years, the United States has viewed China as a strategic rival in technology. Companies like TikTok are seen in the USA as potential tools of the Chinese government to collect user data, which could threaten American national security. In the case of TikTok, the concerns involve both the collection of users' personal data (such as location, preferences, or contacts) and the possibility of content manipulation or censoring critical content in China.

Despite technological rivalry, the USA and China remain deeply economically intertwined. China is a key trade partner for the USA, both as a source of imports (e.g., electronics, clothing, or raw materials) and as a market for American products, such as agriculture, automobiles, or services. American companies, including Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft, have significant production and sales operations in China, making them dependent on stable relations between the countries.