TikTok is the social media sensation that all of Silicon Valley — and a lot of Washington, DC — has their eyes on. The app, created by ByteDance, became famous for rocketing musicians and dancers to stardom. But as its popularity and influence have grown, so has scrutiny of its privacy policies, security, and influence, with legislators voicing concern about its ownership by a Chinese firm. Meanwhile, social media competitors are doing everything they can to knock off TikTok’s features and usurp its short-form video dominance.
Beyoncé won big at the Grammy Awards this year, including nabbing the Best Country Album award for Cowboy Carter. There’s been backlash, with some insisting the Texas native’s work isn’t really a country record.
The argument feels a little thin when internet denizens use AI to replace her voice with a fake Chris Stapleton, like in this altered version of “Protector” or the below take on “Just for Fun.”
The President signed an executive order today to create the fund “within the next year,” and told reporters that the US could use it to purchase TikTok, according to Reuters.
Trump has previously suggested the US could own 50 percent of the app in a “joint venture.”
After a few delays, Universal and Blumhouse’s sequel to their $180 million grossing viral hit about a best-friend-AI-bot-gone-bad is scheduled to premiere on June 27th, 2025. Now the first teaser trailer has dropped on the night of the Grammy Awards with an assist from Chappell Roan’s song “Femininomenon.”
In M3gan 2.0 the robot will be resurrected to do battle with a military-grade spinoff based on her original tech, and presumably some new TikTok dances.
The livestreaming platform announced that this week, every channel will get the ability to edit and share clips straight to Instagram.
How useful that is for Twitch’s gaming-focused creators is up for debate, but with TikTok’s future in question, adding Instagram to the mix seems sensible.
Trump’s executive order doesn’t provide much legal protection, and it’s putting his supporters in a tough spot.
Asked by reporters if Microsoft is in talks to take over TikTok’s US arm, the president was succinct: “I would say yes.” The company is reported to be among several investors, including Oracle, working on a joint bid. Microsoft previously tried to buy the social site back in 2020, which CEO Satya Nadella called the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.”
[Bloomberg.com]
The President was asked about the talks, which NPR reported yesterday afternoon also involve Microsoft, during a flight to Florida Saturday. His response, according to Reuters:
“No, not with Oracle. Numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it and I will make that decision probably over the next 30 days. Congress has given 90 days.”
Please don’t buy used phones with TikTok installed. I know it’s hard to pass the time without the FYP, but it’s a massive security and privacy risk. Just scroll on your browser instead.
It’s not clear whether any of the examples in this New York Times story have actually sold, but eBay is full of listings that apparently have been purchased.
[The New York Times]
Here he is talking about it during today’s big data center announcement, with Larry Ellison, Sam Altman, and Masa Son standing in the room with him.
Extreme First Amendment issues with having the government own a social platform aside, it’s striking how he keeps talking about “permits” even though nothing in the TikTok bill has anything to do with permits. Once a real-estate guy, always a real-estate guy, I suppose.
The “Repeal the TikTok Ban Act,” introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), would undo the forced divestiture law. Unlike President Donald Trump’s executive order or his proposal for the US to own 50 percent of the app, this would be the most legally-sound way to overturn the ban — but it’s still likely a long shot to pass.
TikTok went hard on Dear Leader flattery with its we’re-banned-we’re-back messaging, but it didn’t even get the full 90-day extension Trump promised — it’s only 75. And Trump loves nothing more than leverage, as he made clear while signing the EO. This thing is getting sold, one way or another.
It’s an odd seating arrangement considering that Shou Zi Chew is counting on Trump to help TikTok get out of its US ban that’s based on national security concerns. If confirmed, Tulsi Gabbard would be the one advising the president on such threats. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
Now that TikTok service has been restored in the United States, Marvel Snap is soon to follow. The Marvel collectible card game was caught up on the TikTok ban because its publisher is owned by ByteDance, the company that also runs TikTok. Snap’s developer, Second Dinner, has posted on social media that it expects the game to available again sometime today.
You can catch the national mood from time to time using the iOS App Store’s top free apps list.
After today’s TikTok chaos, the top 20 apps there are taken up mostly by VPNs and video editing or social media posting apps, with a little ChatGPT and Temu sprinkled in for good measure.
The Arkansas Republican and Intelligence Committee chair is putting companies like Apple, Google, and Oracle on notice that they could face not only Justice Department lawsuits, but action from shareholders and state enforcers for servicing TikTok. The warning flies in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s apparent desire to have TikTok operating on Inauguration Day.
The app is partially back online in the US with a message explicitly thanking President Trump. The chances that all this desperate messaging backfires and he still forces a sale are steadily rising — that’s what Trump is saying, and the rest of the GOP is insistent that the law be enforced.
Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Pete Rickets “called some of the major tech companies in recent days to say they needed to comply with” today’s federal TikTok ban, reports The New York Times.
The article followed a joint statement from the two praising Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for “halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok.” Since then, the app has started coming back online — but is still unavailable in app stores.
[The New York Times]
The memo to advertisers I’ve seen notes that the app is coming online for “the majority of U.S. users” but not all of them:
I am pleased to let you know that as of today, TikTok will become available for the majority of U.S. users. Over the course of Sunday, ad campaigns that include U.S. audiences will resume operating and delivering ads to U.S.-based users, although live campaigns will have certain limitations. Although we’ve reinforced our infrastructure to minimize disruptions, we anticipate some temporary service instability that may affect advertising in the U.S. Thank you for sticking with us. We know how vital TikTok is to your brand and your audiences, and we’re working hard to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.
