• As the deadline for the US TikTok ban gets closer, new reports suggest it may not happen.
• Reports of Trump extending the deadline, as well as the Supreme Court choosing to uphold its ruling, have been bandied about.
• The current deadline for the ban to be implemented is 19th January.

We are now less than 48 hours from a TikTok ban being implemented in the United States.

At least that was the thinking at the beginning of the week, as the case put forward by ByteDance’s (TikTok’s owner) lawyers last week Friday is believed to have done little to convince the US Supreme Court judges that the popular social media app did not pose a national security threat over its alleged ties to the Chinese government.

As we near the deadline, at the 11th hour, new reports suggest a TikTok ban is looking less likely.

More specifically we could see an extension of the aforementioned deadline, if a report by the Washington Post (paywall), with the publication reporting that incoming President Donald Trump could sign an executive order extending the deadline by 60 or 90 days.

This as a solution to ByteDance’s divestment in TikTok would be seen as another win for Trump’s second term, as it is something that the Biden-Harris administration could not muster. As such, it rings quite similar to when Trump visited North Korea in his first term, which was also something that his predecessors were not capable of.

Another report from NBC News highlights a real reluctance to implement the ban from current White House officials too. The reasoning here is that it is a task they’d rather leave to the incoming administration, not to mention the fact that this weekend is a holiday one in the US, creating some logistical headaches given what would be involved with implementing such a ban.

“The administration has decided to defer implementation of the law banning TikTok in the U.S. to the incoming Trump administration, the officials said, effectively not enforcing it during the final 36 hours of President Joe Biden’s term in office,” an unnamed White House official told NBC News.

“Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,” they added.

With the likes of Apple, Google, and other app marketplace owners needing to removing the app from their virtual stores Stateside if the ban is implemented, it looks like now that the deadline is on the horizon, the realities of all the admin involved is starting to hit home for many.

That said, if either of the above reports come to fruition, the extension of the deadline appears the more likely, especially given Trump’s ego, as well as the value owning the TikTok US operations would hold for a company in that region. Names like Elon Musk have been attached to a deal to purchase TikTok US, and with his ties to Trump, it only adds fuel to rumours that such a deal could materialise.

“The TikTok ban was rushed through without sufficient consideration of the profound consequences it would have on the 170 million Americans who use the platform,” wrote Democrat Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey this week.

“Today, TikTok is a space where users share critical resources during emergencies such as the Los Angeles wildfires, earn money to cover groceries and medical care, and build community in challenging times. The Extend the TikTok Deadline Act is a straightforward, one-sentence bill designed to give Congress the time needed to fully assess the implications of this ban. I urge my colleagues to act swiftly on this legislation,” he added.

Either way, the TikTok ban saga shows little sign of ending on 19th January.