TikTok ban in flux as White House announces China-US framework deal

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The United States and China person reached a model statement to transportation TikTok’s ownership to US control.

Officials from some countries made the announcement connected Monday.

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The short-form video app was acceptable to beryllium banned successful the US by Wednesday if its proprietor ByteDance did not hold to merchantability the institution to a US-based cognition oregon if the US did not widen a intermission of the ban, which the White House has already done 3 times, most precocious successful June. 

US President Donald Trump applauded the deal, which volition beryllium confirmed erstwhile helium discusses it with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping connected Friday.

“A woody was besides reached connected a “certain” institution that young radical successful our Country precise overmuch wanted to save,” Trump wrote connected his societal media level Truth Social connected Monday.

“The narration remains a precise beardown one!!!”

The White House declined to outline the presumption of the deal, which was negotiated during trade talks between the 2 countries successful Madrid. The two-day meeting, which wrapped up connected Monday, was the latest successful a slew of negotiations that began successful May.

“We’re not going to speech astir the commercialized presumption of the deal. It’s betwixt 2 backstage parties, but the commercialized presumption person been agreed upon,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters.

Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was besides portion of the commercialized delegation successful Madrid, said China wanted concessions connected commercialized and exertion successful speech for agreeing to divest from the fashionable societal media app.

“Our Chinese counterparts person travel with a precise assertive ask,” Bessent said, adding, “We are not consenting to sacrifice nationalist information for a societal media app.”

“TikTok’s divestment statement not lone keeps the app moving successful the US, but is besides expected to assistance de-escalate a tense commercialized standoff and laic groundwork for further commercialized talks betwixt the US and China,” Maria Pechurina, manager of planetary commercialized astatine Peacock Tariff Consulting, told Al Jazeera. “Both US and Chinese delegations explicitly linked the destiny of TikTok to advancement connected tariff reductions and related commercialized concessions during their conversations successful Madrid.”

The woody comes contempt the US pushing different nations to enforce tariffs connected China implicit purchases of Russian oil, which Bessent said was discussed concisely with the US’s Chinese counterparts.

Experts pass to beryllium wary of the woody being acceptable until Xi and Trump talk connected Friday.

“It’s important to enactment that the Chinese often spot the signing of a woody arsenic the beginning, and not the end, of immoderate negotiations. The devil would prevarication successful the details down the optics. Also expect overmuch haggling connected important details that whitethorn instrumentality years,” Usha Hayley, a prof of planetary concern astatine Wichita State University who specialises successful Chinese industry, told Al Jazeera.

“The deal, erstwhile reached, would bespeak the convergence of technology, nationalist security, and geopolitics,” said Hayley. “TikTok sits astatine the centre of US concerns astir information access, power implicit nationalist discourse, and Beijing’s scope into planetary tech. Washington is stating that the US views integer platforms arsenic strategical assets, not backstage businesses.”

TikTok did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for comment.

The looming ban

Trump projected banning TikTok during his archetypal word arsenic US president, signing 2 enforcement orders successful August 2020 that were aimed astatine restricting the app.

In April 2024, nether then-President Joe Biden, the White House signed a instrumentality formally banning TikTok unless it sold its US operations. The prohibition was supposed to instrumentality effect connected January 19, the past time of the Biden administration. Biden said helium would not enforce the prohibition and said that helium would permission that determination to the adjacent administration.

Two days earlier the January deadline, connected January 17, the Supreme Court stepped successful to measurement successful connected TikTok’s situation to the instrumentality and upheld the law. The app went acheronian concisely earlier the prohibition was paused during the aboriginal days of Trump’s consequent presidency.

The intermission was initially for 90 days and was aboriginal extended aggregate times passim the year.

The taste value to Trump

TikTok’s taste relevance has grown importantly successful caller years, serving some arsenic a instrumentality for organising and activism, and arsenic a level to scope the public, peculiarly young voters. In April 2024, the pro-Trump videos connected TikTok were astir treble those supporting Biden, who was past the Democratic nominee, the New York Times reported, citing TikTok’s interior data.

Trump’s broader usage of newer media was wide cited arsenic a origin successful his 2024 predetermination victory. His run regularly engaged with right-leaning podcasts and influencers — specified arsenic Joe Rogan and Theo Von — to scope blimpish audiences. It besides targeted disillusioned men, who were drawn to influencers promoting accepted notions of masculinity, often conflated with blimpish viewpoints.

A Pew Research Center survey from November recovered that news influencers — defined arsenic those who sermon “current events and civic issues” and person astatine slightest 100,000 followers crossed immoderate societal media level – are much apt to thin conservative. A separate study from Pew successful February recovered that quality influencers posted much contented supporting Trump than erstwhile Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s 2024 predetermination opponent: 28 percent for Trump versus 24 percent for Harris.

TikTok’s relation successful spreading far-right narratives is not constricted to US politics. The level has reportedly influenced German authorities elections, contributing to the emergence of far-right leaders, and has likewise affected far-right candidates successful Poland, Sweden, and France.

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