A third extension of the TikTok ban deadline is reportedly forthcoming. Photo Credit: Solen Feyissa
The TikTok ban deadline looks like it’s being extended once again – according to President Trump, who will “probably” delay the current June 19th cutoff.
The president disclosed as much when speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One. As most already know, the relevant law technically called for ByteDance to sell or shut down TikTok in the U.S. by January 19th.
But President Trump pushed back the deadline until early April before moving it to June 19th. In May and June, respectively, the president himself and then seemingly accurate sources indicated that another extension, the third overall, was in the cards.
As for how the situation will play out in the longer term, the platform’s stateside sale won’t go through without Beijing’s approval. For a time, evidence strongly suggested that a signed-and-sealed deal was imminent. However, intensifying trade talks in April put the rumored agreement on ice.
Now, with a trade truce having materialized in the interim, President Trump also expressed the belief that Chinese President Xi Jinping “will ultimately approve” the TikTok sale.
Time will, of course, tell whether this signoff comes to fruition. Closer to the present, it appears unlikely that TikTok will go dark in the States on Thursday. Though there’s some justifiable music-world ambivalence to the app’s fate, it’s not exactly a secret that TikTok’s generally young U.S. userbase wants the platform to continue operating.
Last year, as Congress weighed the eventually signed (by former President Biden) bill ordering TikTok’s divestiture, members of that userbase certainly weren’t shy about voicing their qualms to lawmakers. Those same lawmakers are presumably hearing from lobbyists for American companies with massive TikTok deals in place.
Following all these details to their logical conclusion, with a couple exceptions, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle don’t seem eager to rally behind the divestment deadline.
Bringing the focus back to the music space, TikTok is still adding features, losing execs, and introducing users to legacy talent. Earlier in June, 87-year-old Connie Francis officially joined the app amid a wave of viral success for “Pretty Little Baby” (1962), and TikTok for Artists set sail globally.
And last week, the app went ahead and rolled out an Addison Rae “in-app experience” in support of the 24-year-old’s newly released debut album.
Feature Story, Music Apps, Music Industry News, Music Law
This post was originally authored and published by Dylan Smith Digital Music News via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
