Cybersecurity Policy Report, TikTok Gets New Reprieve as Trump Delays Enforcement of ‘Divest-or-Ban’ Law, (Jun 20, 2025)
ByteDance Ltd. will get another 90 days, until Sept. 17, to find a qualified buyer for TikTok’s U.S. business under an executive order signed yesterday by President Trump.
The extension is the third granted to ByteDance by the Trump administration as it continues to disregard the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act of 2024 (CPR, April 4).
The law—adopted by wide bipartisan majorities, signed by former President Biden, and upheld by a unanimous Supreme Court—gave ByteDance until last Jan. 19 to sell TikTok’s U.S. business to a qualified buyer—one without ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Absent a “qualified divestiture” on that date, the law required U.S.-based app stores and web-hosting providers to stop supporting TikTok’s U.S. operations or face steep fines.
But after President Trump took office, he issued an executive order extending the sale deadline by 75 days—a move the law does not allow.
The law would have allowed the president to extend the deadline by 90 days if ByteDance and a potential buyer had agreed to terms of a sale and needed additional time to close the deal, but that was not the case.
Although U.S.-based app stores and web-hosting services that support TikTok’s U.S. business are violating the law, the EO signed yesterday directs the Department of Justice to “take no action to enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act ... or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act, including for distributing, maintaining, or updating (or enabling the distribution, maintenance, or updating)” of TikTok in the U.S.
“In light of this direction, even after the expiration of the above-specified period, the Department of Justice shall not take any action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period or any period prior to the issuance of this order, including the period of time from January 19, 2025, until the date of this order,” it says.
“The Attorney General shall further issue a letter to each provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period, as well as for any conduct from the effective date of the Act until the date of this order,” it adds.
Whether those liability protections are enough to shield TikTok’s U.S. business partners from future enforcement—the act’s statute of limitations is five years—remains to be seen.
The EO also attempts to head off “attempted enforcement by the States or private parties,” which it says would be “an encroachment on the powers of the Executive,” by directing the attorney general to “exercise all available authority to preserve and defend the Executive’s exclusive authority to enforce the Act.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the EO. “Once again, the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed by a PRC-controlled TikTok. An executive order can’t sidestep the law, but that’s exactly what the president is trying to do,” Sen. Warner said in a statement.
Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee expressed hope that the law would eventually be enforced.
“We remain committed to seeing TikTok divested from the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated ByteDance,” according to a statement from Reps. Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.), the committee’s chairman, Gus Bilirakis (R., Fla.), chairman of its commerce, manufacturing, and trade subcommittee, and Richard Hudson (R., N.C.), chairman of the communications and technology subcommittee.
“We remain committed to protecting the privacy and security of the American public and are hopeful the Administration will continue working to facilitate a deal that brings TikTok into compliance with the law soon,” the three lawmakers said.
TikTok expressed gratitude for the extension and indicated it was working with Vice President J.D. Vance on arranging a sale.
“We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office,” the company said in a statement.
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