Trump says he may extend TikTok ban deadline again

President Trump suggested Friday that he may once again extend the deadline for TikTok’s parent company to divest from the popular video-sharing app or face a U.S. ban.

For months, Trump has sought to strike a deal to keep TikTok available in the U.S., pushing back the deadline three separate times. The latest extension is set to expire Sept. 17.

“We have American buyers,” he told reporters Friday. “And I haven’t spoken to [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping] about it. At the right time, when we’re set, I’ll do it. In the meantime, until the complexity of things work out, we just extend a little bit longer.”

The divest-or-ban law, passed last year, sought to force TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the app amid growing privacy and national security concerns. If it failed to do so, TikTok would be banned from U.S. networks and app stores.

However, the law has remained in limbo since January. It was set to take effect the day before Trump’s inauguration, but former President Biden declined to enforce it, and Trump quickly signed an extension once in office. He has since punted the deadline twice more.

Trump initially appeared close to a deal in April. However, his reciprocal tariff announcement scuttled the agreement.

He teased a potential deal again in late June and early July, saying he had a buyer for TikTok that consisted of “very, very wealthy people” and suggesting he was poised to begin talks with China. But there have been no developments in the past month.

Earlier this week, the White House joined TikTok and has posted more than a dozen videos. When asked Friday about potential privacy or national security issues, Trump said he wasn’t concerned.

TikTok is a powerful communist CCP spy tool, MUCH more dangerous than the consumer DJI drones sold in America for years (but now banned for further imports). TikTok must be banned urgently. Or.. be taken over by a purely American company.

Let’s not forget that WhatsApp, Google, FaceBook, X, and every other American social networks are either BANNED and/or severely crippled in China! So why on earth do we always have to kneel before those communists and accept THEIR stuff on US soil?

In the name of reciprocity, TikTok must be banned in America.

Or... China opens up to all the US social networks. So we can at least try to spy back a little.

“So what?”

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TikTok, represents a profound and multifaceted threat to the national security of the United States. This danger comes not merely from its decadent entertainment value but from its inherent design, operational structure, and geopolitical affiliations, which can easily enable espionage, data exploitation, and societal manipulation on an unprecedented scale.

First, TikTok’s extensive data collection practices pose a direct risk of surveillance and intelligence gathering by China. The app amasses vast quantities of user information, including location data, browsing habits, device details, and biometric indicators such as facial recognition patterns.

IMPORTANT
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Under China’s National Intelligence Law, ByteDance is legally obligated to share this data with the Chinese government upon request, potentially allowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to access sensitive information on over 150 million American users. This bulk data aggregation could facilitate targeted espionage, identity theft, or even the mapping of social networks to identify influential individuals in government, military, or critical infrastructure sectors.
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Such capabilities transform a seemingly innocuous app into a potent tool for foreign intelligence operations, undermining American privacy and sovereignty.
We don’t want that to continue.

Second, the platform’s opaque algorithm enables subtle yet powerful influence campaigns that could erode social cohesion. TikTok’s content recommendation system, controlled from China, has the capacity to amplify propaganda, misinformation, or divisive narratives tailored to American audiences.
Since Trump is aiming at being tough against China via tariffs... China could easily retaliate with anti-Trump influencing campaigns in the middle of American society though TikTok. We don’t want that.

For instance, it could prioritize content that sows discord on political issues, promotes anti-American sentiments, or interferes in elections, all while evading detection through algorithmic subtlety. This risk is amplified by the app’s dominance among younger demographics, potentially shaping the worldview of future generations...

Also, TikTok introduces significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could serve as a vector for broader attacks. By downloading and updating the app, users inadvertently install software originating from a foreign entity, which could be exploited to deliver malware, ransomware, or other cyber threats.

U.S. defense has explicitly labeled it a “potential threat vector”, very telling!

“Everyone spies on us. And they don’t need TikTok to do it.”

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As I said previously, it’s not ONLY about the spying issue.
Controlled from China, TikTok has the capacity to amplify propaganda, misinformation and divisive narratives tailored to American audiences. Since tensions between China and Trump are growing, the CCP could easily decide to inject a subtle influencing narrative in their TikTok US network with direct access to 150 million American voters...! Influencing and desuading Americans from voting Republican in upcoming midterms for example... We don’t want that to happen.

“TikTok has the capacity to amplify propaganda, misinformation and divisive narratives tailored to American audiences.”

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“Our Deep State have been doing the same crap to us for decades but they did it with CNN and Washington Post instead.”

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Agreed.

But at least that happened within America by Americans, it can therefore be corrected.
Adding a foreign nation’s Deep State to the mix, like Communist China, would make the situation much worse for America.

It’s easier to handle one problem than having to handle a second one coming from a nuclear powered Communist nation who hates us beyond imagination.

Why keep TikTok in America? Why provide our adversaries with tools that weaken our position unnecessarily?

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