Update on TikTok: Trump moves to silence critical platform ahead of election

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In two earlier blog posts on Trump's war on TikTok, I speculated that it might really be motivated by a desire to either shut down, or gain a degree of content control over a platform with a young user base that was decidedly anti-Trump, and has been very effective in countering him and other white supremacist forces, in the world of social media. At the time, a possible deal involving Microsoft was rumoured, but that fell through. Then something with Oracle, CEO Larry Ellison is a big Trump supporter, was in the news, but it never got approval. Now, it seems that starting Sunday, moves will be made to shut down TikTok in the US ahead of the election.

While the forced shut down of a striving business (That can be done 100% remotely!), may not fit well with Trump's pandemic policies, it is very consistent with a desire to silence critical voices ahead of the election.

UPDATE: Never mind all that! As I prepare to post, this story breaks. You won't be able to download the TikTok app after Sunday (So get it now!), but any other change in its operation is stayed until after the election. This is a victory for the TikTok users and the people. Techcrunch is reporting:

TikTok gets Nov. 12 stay, keeping it up through the US election and Oracle dealmaking 18 September 2020By Danny Crichton & Ingrid Lunden The U.S. Commerce Department has now announced the details of how it will enforce the shutdown of TikTok and WeChat in the country, after announcing in August plans to do so by September 20 over national security concerns. The news is structured along two dates, September 20 and November 12. Both apps and their app updates will no longer be distributed in U.S. app stores as of September 20. But TikTok specifically gets an extension on how it operates until November 12.

That not only keeps it up until after the November 3 U.S. election, but leaves the door open for it to complete a complicated deal with Oracle and partners to take control of its U.S. operations without an interruption in service.

That timing, plus the statement from the Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, underscores the strong political current running through the news. More...

My other posts on TikTok: 

What's behind Trump's war against TikTok? 

Seven serious problems with Trump's forced sale of TikTok

Clay Claiborne

Bans on WeChat and TikTok violate the First Amendment by restricting our ability to communicate and conduct important transactions.

Restricting WeChat in particular will harm many communities with loved ones in China.

The move reflects Trump’s xenophobic and racist agenda.

— ACLU (@ACLU) September 18, 2020