With just 30 days until TikTok's forced-sale deadline in the U.S., Senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have formally requested President Biden to approve a one-time 90-day extension.

Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, TikTok must be sold by ByteDance by January 19th or face a U.S. ban. While the president has the authority to extend this deadline by 90 days, specific conditions must be met.

The senators emphasized in their brief letter that ByteDance cannot realistically complete a divestiture by the current deadline, even if the Supreme Court upholds the law's constitutionality in their January 10th hearing.

To grant the extension, President Biden must:

• Identify a qualified divestiture path
• Present evidence of significant progress toward divestiture
• Confirm binding legal agreements are in place

The timing is particularly critical as the deadline comes just one day before President-elect Trump's inauguration. While TikTok and ByteDance maintain their stance against selling, the platform's fate in the U.S. remains uncertain.

The senators argue that without an extension or judicial intervention, TikTok's immediate ban would cause "serious hardship" to its creators and users. Despite some reports questioning the president's ability to extend under the law, the broad definitions of "significant progress" and "in place" suggest the extension could be legally viable.

Related Articles

Previous Articles