Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

TikTok takes the Trump administration to court

It's a tactic to buy more time against the president's impending ban on the app.
Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

How TikTok and WeChat escalated the U.S.-China trade war

Aug 7, 2020
President Trump's executive order restricts Chinese tech platforms. Correspondent Jennifer Pak discusses the future of competition in developing markets.
A man rides past the offices of Tencent, the parent company of Chinese social media platform WeChat, in Beijing.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

With executive orders, White House takes aim at two social media giants

These orders mean that in 45 days, transactions with WeChat or TikTok from American persons or companies would be banned.
Pictured: The social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone on an American flag background.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Trump administration moves past TikTok to take action on more Chinese tech companies

The rationale is that the U.S. needs "clean networks" to guard Americans’ data and the secrets of U.S. companies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has laid out an expansive plan to keep out entire categories of Chinese tech: apps, data storage, internet and phone services. Pictured: Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department on Aug. 5, 2020.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

What’s CFIUS and what does it have to do with TikTok?

Aug 5, 2020
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States screens deals for national security risks.
As the future of TikTok in the United States is in limbo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement on removing untrusted Chinese apps makes it more confusing for Chinese technology companies operating in the U.S, like Lenovo.

4 things to know about the committee behind the Microsoft-TikTok deadline

Aug 4, 2020
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, has grown in influence over the years.
Trump has given the TikTok sale a deadline of Sept. 15.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Trump OKs American acquisition of TikTok, but only if the U.S. gets a cut of the deal

Aug 4, 2020
Microsoft can "go ahead" with efforts to buy TikTok, Trump said, so long as the U.S. Treasury pockets "a substantial amount of money."
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why Microsoft wants TikTok and how the U.S. government feels about that

Aug 3, 2020
In the tech world, Microsoft is seen as the serious company that does grown-up stuff, so why does it want the social media platform?
Microsoft's potential acquisition of TikTok could put it in the leagues of Facebook and YouTube.
Photo Illustration by Cindy Ord/Getty Images

The latest on TikTok: Microsoft takeover talks, a potential U.S. ban and more

Aug 3, 2020
A leaked memo from ByteDance’s CEO to its staff says TikTok has no choice but to sell its U.S. operations.
The founders were concerned countries would try to meddle in the U.S., so they passed measures like the Emoluments Clause which prohibits office holders from taking gifts from foreign officials.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

TikTok fans and K-pop stans deluge Trump campaign with bad data

Jun 22, 2020
While it's unclear whether the social media campaign affected turnout at the president's Tulsa rally, fake signups to campaign events can corrupt data used for voter outreach.
The upper section of the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is partially empty as President Donald Trump speaks at his campaign rally on June 20.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images