On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed a U.S. funding bill, Public Law 118-50, that included a provision to force ByteDance, a Chinese-based company, to divest, or sell, TikTok or risk having the application banned from any use within the U.S. The law was to take effect on January 19, 2025. However, President Trump has issued multiple executive orders and other actions that extended the period for the ByteDance to either sell the app or face being banned in the United States. We look at when the law started, who voted for the law, who voted against the law, and what is the status.
The House Bill that Passed
On March 5, 2024, the House introduced House Representative (H.R.) 7521 – Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that would call for ByteDance, parent company to TikTok, to sell the application by a designated date or be forced to sell it.
On March 13, 2024, the House passed the bill that would advance to the U.S. Senate for a vote. On April 24, 2024, the Senate passed the bill and sent it to President Biden for signature and approval.
First Extension
On January 19, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order that granted TikTok an additional 75 days to comply with the law.
Second Extension
On April 5, 2025, President Trump announced another executive order that delayed enforcement of the law. The April executive order allowed TikTok more time to comply with the law.
Third Extension
On June 17, 2025, President Trump announced another executive order that delays enforcement of the law. Trump’s latest executive order allows TikTok more time to comply with the law. However, this executive order has a 90-day period for TikTok to sell its app to American-based interests or risks being banned in the United States.
Takeaway
The continued extensions and delays in enforcing the law provides uncertainty and confusion for those who use TikTok and the those tasked with enforcement. With the latest extension, it will be interested to see whether TikTok sells or says goodbye to a lucrative market that has helped it grow. Or will there be a wildcard thrown in the mix in the continuing saga between the TikTok and the U.S. federal government.
For those in the compliance and enforcement arena, questions are being raised about the point of passing a law that is not being enforced or allowed to take effect. The concern is how will the compliance and enforcement community respond once the dust settles or even care to bother with the law. For others that use TikTok, it is business as usual, but with more awareness and planning in response to the latest developments. Having contingency plans, planning outreach efforts, better educating yourself about your elected officials from city to the federal levels will help better navigate future issues that can impact your money and operations.