This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyng762q4eo

The article has changed 20 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 17 Version 18
Why is TikTok back after being banned for one day? What does Trump's executive order mean for TikTok and who might buy it?
(1 day later)
TikTok briefly went dark in the US over the weekend, after the Supreme Court denied a bid by Chinese owner ByteDance to overturn a law banning it. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day extension to comply with a law banning the app if it is not sold.
But it was back after a day with a message thanking incoming president Donald Trump for his "efforts" in restoring the app. The social media platform briefly went dark in the US days before Trump took office, after the Supreme Court denied a bid by its Chinese owner ByteDance to overturn the legislation.
Why is TikTok back? TikTok came back online with a short message thanking Trump for his "efforts".
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a law, passed by Congress, to ban TikTok. Has Trump overturned the TikTok ban?
It said the ban was "designed to prevent China - a designated foreign adversary - from leveraging its control over ByteDance to capture the personal data of US TikTok users".
The law was due to kick in on Sunday, but on Saturday night, the app went dark.
Users in the US who tried to use it were met with a note reading: "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can't use TikTok for now."
Then, on Sunday, the app was back up and running with a message: "Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!"
However, that was only for people who already had the app - it was still unavailable to download on app stores in the US.
Posting on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns, Trump said: "I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!"
Trump said he would issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the ban is introduced, "so that we can make a deal to protect our national security".
TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew is expected at Trump's inauguration on Monday afternoon.
Can Trump overturn the ban?
An executive order is an instruction from the president which has the weight of the law behind it.An executive order is an instruction from the president which has the weight of the law behind it.
His order, he said, would give the company time to find a US partner to buy half of the company. But Trump's order does not overturn the ban.
"I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up," he said. Instead it tells the US attorney general not to enforce the law for now - something experts had expected would be his first move.
The Biden administration made clear they would not enforce the law - so another option would be for Trump to follow suit and allow the law to stand but tell the Department of Justice (DoJ) to ignore it. That buys time for his administration to, as the order puts it, "determine the appropriate course of action."
Trump has floated the possibility of TikTok becoming a joint venture, telling reporters he was seeking a 50-50 partnership between "the United States" and ByteDance, though he did not give any further details on how that might work.
For now though the order creates a situation where the president is directly opposing a ruling made by the Supreme Court, which upheld the law to ban TikTok on 17 January.
It said the ban was "designed to prevent China - a designated foreign adversary - from leveraging its control over ByteDance to capture the personal data of US TikTok users".
Technically, even after the 75 days have passed, it would be possible for Trump to allow the law to stand but tell the Department of Justice (DoJ) to continue to ignore it.
The government would be effectively telling Apple and Google they will not be punished for continuing to allow people to download TikTok onto their devices, meaning the law would remain in place but would essentially be redundant.The government would be effectively telling Apple and Google they will not be punished for continuing to allow people to download TikTok onto their devices, meaning the law would remain in place but would essentially be redundant.
Obviously, the firms might be uncomfortable about breaking the law even if they have been told doing so is fine - as it would be effectively requiring them to take the president's word for it that they will not face punishment. It is not clear whether the firms would continue to offer the app under these circumstances.
TikTok ban will be first test for Trump as dealmaker-in-chief Could Elon Musk, MrBeast or Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary buy TikTok?
Could TikTok ever be banned in the UK too? When Trump signed the executive order, he said "every rich person has called me" to signal their interest in TikTok.
Who could buy TikTok? ByteDance has long insisted that its prize asset was not for sale.
Up until now, ByteDance has been resolute that no sale of its prize asset in the US is on the table. Despite this, Bloomberg News reported, external that the firm was considering a sale to Trump ally Elon Musk. However, TikTok described this as "pure fiction".
But could that change now that it has actually been banned? Billionaire Frank McCourt and the Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary - a celebrity investor on Shark Tank, the US version of Dragon's Den - are behind a separate bid to buy the platform without its algorithm.
Potential buyers continue to line up - with Bloomberg News reporting on Tuesday, external that the firm was looking at a sale to billionaire Elon Musk, though TikTok described this as "pure fiction". Mr McCourt, a former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, said he had secured $20bn (£16. 3bn) from a consortium of investors.
Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt are among those who have previously expressed an interest in buying it. The biggest YouTuber in the world Jimmy Donaldson - AKA MrBeast - has also claimed he is in the running, external after a number of investors contacted him following an earlier tweet signalling his interest.
Mr McCourt, a former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, said he had secured $20bn in verbal commitments from a consortium of investors to bid for TikTok. MrBeast is the most popular YouTuber in the world with more than 300m subscribers
There is an even more left field - and considerably less serious - proposed owner. A US search engine called Perplexity AI has also reportedly offered to merge with TikTok.
The biggest YouTuber in the world Jimmy Donaldson - AKA MrBeast - has claimed he is now in the running to make a deal, external after he had billionaires reaching out to him about it. In March 2024, Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wanted to put together a group to buy the app but it is not clear if he is still pursuing this.
What about TikTok's sister apps? What about TikTok's sister apps Lemon8 and CapCut?
Watch: Can young Americans live without TikTok?Watch: Can young Americans live without TikTok?
TikTok was the only ByteDance app which became available again after the ban - though only for people who already had the app. TikTok was the only ByteDance app which came back immediately - though only for people who already had the app.
It's still unavailable to download from Apple and Google's app stores. It is still not available to download from Apple and Google's app stores.
As of Monday morning, other apps owned by the company are still unavailable to use in the US, The Verge reports, external. Two other apps which remain inaccessible are Lemon8, another social media app which has been compared to Pinterest, and CapCut, a video editing app.
These include Lemon8, another social media app which has been compared to Pinterest, and CapCut, a video editing app. Meanwhile Marvel Snap, a digital card game published by a ByteDance subsidiary, is now available once again after it too went down - which caught even its US-based developer Second Dinner off guard.
Meanwhile Marvel Snap, a digital card game published by a ByteDance subsidiary, also went down - which caught even its US-based developer Second Dinner off guard. What other platforms could TikTok users use instead?
The company posted, external on X on Sunday that the outage was a "surprise", and later said, external it "hoped to have it back online within 24 hours". TikTok says it has 170 million US users who spent - on average - 51 minutes per day on the app in 2024.
What platforms could people turn to instead? Experts say rivals such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts could benefit if Trump's efforts to fully restore TikTok don't succeed.
TikTok says it has 170 million users in the US who, on average, spent 51 minutes per day on the app in 2024.
While its future is still a little uncertain, rivals such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts may benefit.
Users bring advertisers - so this could be a big financial boost to those platforms.Users bring advertisers - so this could be a big financial boost to those platforms.
"Chief marketing officers who we've spoken with confirmed that they will divert their media dollars to Meta and Google if they can no longer advertise on TikTok," said Kelsey Chickering, an analyst at market research company Forrester."Chief marketing officers who we've spoken with confirmed that they will divert their media dollars to Meta and Google if they can no longer advertise on TikTok," said Kelsey Chickering, an analyst at market research company Forrester.
Other potential winners include Twitch, which made its name on hosting livestreams - a popular feature on TikTok. Twitch is well known particularly to gamers, though it continues to grow with other content. Other potential winners include Twitch, which made its name by hosting livestreams - a popular feature on TikTok. Twitch is well known particularly to gamers, though its other content is expanding too.
Other Chinese-owned platforms, such as Xiaohongshu - known as RedNote among its US users - have seen rapid growth in the US and the UK. Other Chinese-owned platforms, such as Xiaohongshu - known as RedNote among its US users - have also seen rapid growth in the US and the UK.