Public sentiment is largely negative towards the US government's decision to allow TikTok to remain operational, with prominent concerns about national security and youth safety. Many commenters advocate for an outright ban, citing the app as a threat due to alleged ties to China and potential manipulation. Additionally, there is skepticism about the political motivations behind the deal, leading to distrust in the involved parties.

US Government

TikTok

China

&gt; Scott Bessent said the deal was coming

LOL. 

&gt; Li Chenggang, the top Chinese trade negotiator, confirmed later on Monday that two sides had reached a basic framework consensus on resolving issues related to TikTok through cooperation, reducing investment barriers and promoting trade

oh, yeah, definitely the two sides are absolutely on the same page with a firm, detailed agreement and structure that will preserve TikTok and satisfy US desires to own/control/regulate it.

sickofthisshit

Some key details:

&gt;Speaking after emerging from negotiations with Chinese officials, Scott Bessent said the deal was coming but declined to reveal the commercial terms.
&gt;
&gt;“We have a framework for a TikTok deal,” the treasury secretary told reporters after coming out of high-level talks in Madrid. “We’re not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon.” Bessent added that the Chinese team had made “aggressive asks” during negotiations, but didn’t explain what they were.
&gt;
&gt;Li Chenggang, the top Chinese trade negotiator, confirmed later on Monday that two sides had reached a basic framework consensus on resolving issues related to TikTok through cooperation, reducing investment barriers and promoting trade. Li said friction between the two economic giants was normal, but warned Washington against continued “suppression” of Chinese companies.
&gt;
&gt;“We would like to stress that the outcomes of the trade and economic consultations are hard won, and the US side should not, on the one hand, ask China to accommodate its concerns, whilst at the same time continue to suppress Chinese companies,” Li said in Madrid.
&gt;
&gt;The framework agreement is a breakthrough in the long-running dispute over TikTok’s ownership, which has raised national security concerns in Washington over the app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance. In April 2024, Joe Biden signed legislation that gave ByteDance nine months to sell the platform to a US-approved buyer or face a total ban – a deadline that Donald Trump has repeatedly extended.
&gt;
&gt;...
&gt;
&gt;Washington’s security concerns center on fears that Beijing could manipulate the massively popular platform to spy on Americans or influence public opinion. Christopher Wray, the former FBI director, warned senators that China’s national security laws could compel ByteDance to hand over user data or suppress content, and the department of justice last year said TikTok had gathered the sensitive data of American users based off gun control, abortion and religion through its use of Lark, a workplace communication platform similar to Slack or Microsoft Teams, according to court documents.
&gt;
&gt;...
&gt;
&gt;Bessent said final details would be settled when Trump speaks with Xi Jinping, China’s president, on Friday. Trump hinted that the deal was in the making while all sides were still at the table, posting on Truth Social that “A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much want to save. They will be very happy!”
&gt;
&gt;Greer confirmed that the agreement was now awaiting approval from both leaders.

With this administration, recent history shows that a deal in principle is anything but a done deal. Given this uncertainty along with other recent events involving foreign-headquartered tech companies, it's difficult to see how any company would view investing in the US as a safe bet for the foreseeable future.

Hrmbee

“We don’t want the Chinese to spy on Americans. We prefer to do it ourselves.”

5aur1an

Sidwill

Hopefully everyone will abandon it and move to a clone of the site.

samjohnson2222

It's still quite funny to me that people are sitting there with a straight face, pretending that the app is some sort of surveillance network &amp; national security threat.

Professor0fLogic

Hi all,

A reminder that comments do need to be on-topic and engage with the article past the headline. Please make sure to read the article before commenting.  Very short comments will automatically be removed by automod. Please avoid making comments that do not focus on the economic content or whose primary thesis rests on personal anecdotes. 

As always our comment rules can be found [here](https://reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/fx9crj/rules_roundtable_redux_rule_vi_and_offtopic/)

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Economics) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

I'm skeptical that China would agree to divest of TikTok and it's algorithm which they can use to their advantage to push pro-China/anti-American content. This seems like another one of Trump's "deals" where he claims victory for little to nothing in return.

ChrisF1987

The Trump admin seems to have a toxic symbiotic relationship with Tiktok that is borderline submissive. 

There's no way they're serious about banning it now, it's just a weak negotiating tactic imo.

uhhhwhatok

Rule 1: they have 2 weeks to comply!  
Rule 2: if it hasn't happened yet, go back to Rule 1.

barfridge0

Sounds like Trump has given up trying to force TikTok to be sold to the US.

It was never about security it was always about money.

Bob_Spud

AComputerChip

TikTok was already banned **by law**, and the Supreme Court upheld that law.

The only reason it is still around is because people are just ignoring the very real Constitutional Crisis where the Executive Branch just said "No, we dont care what the other two said."

SaulsAll

Just in time for TACO Tuesday.

Release the files.

Saul_Go0dmann

Back to Red Note it is

Edit: 2 posts above this 

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/s/Qz55DEaTuK

prguitarman

rco8786

Ill-Ad3311

Just ban it already Jesus Christ. Using a fucking app as leverage in a tariff war lol. We are so unserious.

itsRobbie_

He will decide this by either two weeks or 90 days.

GreatGojira

redyellowblue5031

Spin, spin, spin.  Like a record, baby, right ‘round, ‘round, ‘round.

UsusMeditando

What does tiktok have to do with China's tarrifs? My god it's just distract distract distract with these people.

dynamiteexplodes

NovelRelationship830

MidEastBeast

big-papito

My god lmao

Trump made saving tiktok his most stunning achievement before the election. He’s not going to ban it. It’s supposed to be banned right now according to US law but he is desperately trying to prevent that. And he’s going to try to “threaten” to ban it?

Y0___0Y

If China would give up tech demands for TikTok remaining in place, it would feel like absolute confirmation it's part of some Chinese propaganda/spy op bullshit.

Ritz527

Bullies negotiate by escalating threats. It is a losers strategy. Republicans are loser bullies.

jh937hfiu3hrhv9

So TikTok is just another bargaining chip for the administration to try and get their way? …and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

TheBodhiwan

Imagine if the world just ignored the US for the next 3.5 years

pomod

LoL. He sacrifices claimed "national security" for "tariff" to save his face. Wow. Tiktok wasnt national security at all.

Basic_Ad4785

China isn't going to do anything they know they are in control with the tariff business.

B1llGatez

Muppet83

Well they already forced them to change the rules and are driving alot of creators to other  platforms for political content. I'm sure the right wing political content will not be touched or moderated as has been the way of life on there for months. Pretty sure Trump just wants to make it into an republican propaganda machine.

groundhog5886

It's funny that the ban was SUPPOSED to be about national security.  I guess extortion lever &gt; national security.

blundermine

All I know is they're gonna order tacos again. And again

Saneless

devindran

DonutsMcKenzie

TikTok again? Didn’t Trump start end this once already?

parrothead32812

Why would those two things be discussed together?

ChillassApiarist

How can anyone take Trump seriously on his ‘tough against China,’ schtick if he’s not even willing to ban one social media app.

718Brooklyn

Some idiot will say banning TikTok is against their free speech.

NoseBreather31

righteouspower

RottenPingu1

GetOutOfTheWhey

drrtydan

Trump is like the opposite of the ED-209s from RoboCop.

"You have 2 weeks to comply.... you now have 3 weeks to comply...."

LakeEarth

Dry_Inspection_4583

TikTok benefits him by making Gen Z in the US care not about his actions in lieu of caring exclusively about a war in the middle east, this is an empty threat

NoLime7384

MrSquigglyPub3s

I went in to check the news, and it seems inconsistent with the current headline.

bjran8888

Its because the roommate had a tiktok account.That's the only reason he's backflipping.

AI_Renaissance

Believe it or not I actually like TikTok. Got a bunch of friends on there. They recently changed the rules and started banning a bunch of people. I think even if it survives it won’t be the same and people will inevitably stop using it

Jolly-Radio-9838

Good, do it. One major propaganda tool out of the way.

tapioca_slaughter

All TikTok has to do is have bots adding likes to anything Trump posts and it will never be banned

GrandPaDon1961

At this point it needs to happen. The IQ level of the posts since the 11th has taken a sharp nosedive. The bot network is definitely artificial but in no way intelligent. A good many posts are nothing more than baiting to stoke further violence. Reporting posts on TikTok has became a moot issue so blocking is now your only alternative.

_Dammitman_

I say ban it, it’s requiring peoples brains. I feel so much more level headed since I deleted it a couple months ago. 

The short format rage machine, short so they can fit more in.

Ellemscott

cig-nature

Seems like they reached a deal

Trump seems pretty effective at getting foreign nations to concede to the US. why didn't the Dems do this?

DatingYella

DJKGinHD

Implies, meaning it's probably not if I were making Vegas bets

steve_ample

So he came up with a deal by himself and then he’s going to run it by Xi in a few days?

Short_Week3262

Is the deal Xi will give Trump $5 million and super double pinky promises not to spy on Americans?

frakkintoaster

OneNormalBloke

Please. This man is going to serve us all TACOs.

captaincrunk82

I don’t even care about the spyware or data stealing concerns (well I do), but TikTok is such an annoying app I wish they banned it just off of that. Also what magically spell does this app have over people that requires them to watch it in public on speaker?

Swoah

dogfoodhoarder

ShinyToyHuman

ErgoMachina

It's going to become Musk's right, tikxtokx

Marekm991

US gets TikTok

China gets Reddit

Deal! 🤝

CryMoreFanboys

An international conspiracy of conservative forces aimed at undermining democratic institutions. This conspiracy involves representatives of Russian, American Republican, British and European conservative circles, as well as their associates from various countries, including populists, far-right, nationalists, communists and others. The conspirators set themselves the task of destabilizing democratic societies, suppressing progressive movements and establishing undemocratic regimes. They seek to covertly suppress people with democratic beliefs, using methods of psychological influence to demotivate, bring them to a mental disorder, or even incite them to suicidal actions.

Icy-Squirrel6422

I'd vote for an extension. I don't think that China will agree before they get a signed agreement on the other issues. They'll wnat to keep TikTok in their back pocket until then because they think it is an Ace. They won't want to give it away withoutgetting somethin concrete in return. Maybe no restrictions  on Ukraine oil.

Puzzled49

I'm assuming China sent a bribe to trump interests and the US got nothing out of this whatsoever

AmbitiousEffort9275

This means Trump just came into some big cash.

sixty5pan

A framework agreement allows TikTok to remain operational in the U.S. amid national security concerns.

US-China TikTok Deal

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want