The Second TikTok Deadline: What Can We Learn About It? Timing the Trump era in tech policy and the role of the tech enforcement arm
Even before the second extension, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), who oppose a ban of TikTok, wrote Trump that it would be “unacceptable and unworkable for your Administration to continue ignoring the requirements in the law.” They warned, “any further extensions of the TikTok deadline will require Oracle, Apple, Google, and other companies to continue risking ruinous legal liability, a difficult decision to justify in perpetuity.”
The Trump administration will continue to work over the next 90 days to make sure the deal is closed so that TikTok can continue to be used by Americans.
It is not clear what can prevent Trump from approving a deal that does not meet the letter of the law. As Hawley acknowledged while speaking to reporters in April, “Congress, we don’t have an enforcement arm of our own.”
ByteDance and anOracle-led coalition were close to a deal in April but the tentative agreement ended up being scuttled by Trump. There has been no recent news about resurrecting that deal or another one. Even when a sale seemed likely, it was unclear whether China would allow ByteDance to sell the valuable algorithm that powers TikTok’s video recommendations.
is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.
Reprieve for Technicolor: Trump is Violation of the Law, and Air Force One is Traveling with Me – Dr. Calo
“We’ll be extending it. At the White House on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he was going to extend it. “We’re going to probably make a deal – I think we’ll need China’s blessing on it.”
The promise of a reprieve comes in the wake of a high-stakes meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in London last week where the two sides agreed on a framework to get stalled trade negotiations back on track.
Trump signed an executive order that pushed back the start of the ban by 75 days, and promised immunity for tech companies that give back end services to the app.
According to Ryan Calo, a professor of law at the University of Washington who is following tech, Trump has been outside the bounds of the law.
He said the president was not operating within Congress’s intent. It sets a bad precedent because the president feels like he can ignore a congressional statute.
Trump contends that he’s in line with the law. Asked on Tuesday if he had the legal basis to extend the reprieve, Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One: “Yeah, sure. Yeah, we do.”
