President Donald Trump has delayed the ban on the use of the Chinese application TikTok and has assured Apple and Google corporations that they will not be penalized for the distribution and support of this application. TikTok, a popular app for short videos, has returned to American app stores from Apple and Google on Thursday following Trump's announcement.
Note that Trump signed a decree on a temporary ban for 75 days, which allowed TikTok to continue its activities in the USA. Although TikTok resumed its work after Trump's intervention, Google and Apple kept the application outside their app stores in the USA.
Experts believe that the reason for the delay was to await approval from Google and Apple, which is relatively unrelated to the residual criminal prosecution for hosting or distributing applications. According to data from Sensor Tower, TikTok was downloaded more than 52 million times in 2024, with 52% of all downloads coming from the Apple App Store and 48% from Google Play in the USA.
It should be noted that the law requires ByteDance to sell TikTok's assets in the USA or, ultimately, to face a ban, which was signed by then-President Joe Biden in April last year. Such decisions were prompted by national security concerns and fears that China could use this application for espionage against American users.
Trump stated that his 75-day deadline on TikTok could be extended. According to him, he will lead negotiations with some parties regarding the acquisition of TikTok and may provide a decision on the future of the application in February.
