US Senator Urges Extension Of TikTok Sales Time Limit

Democratic senator, Ed Markey (photo: x @SenMarkey)

JAKARTA - Three senators from the Democratic Party, Ed Markey, Chris Van Hollen, and Cory Booker, urged President Donald Trump to ask the authorities from the US Congress to extend the deadline for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok from China, to sell TikTok operations in the United States.

Initially, Trump unilaterally extended the sales deadline from January 19 to April 5 by delaying law enforcement passed last year. The law requires ByteDance to sell its majority stake to US owners or face bans on apps in the United States.

The senators argue that delaying enforcement is not only against the law, but also raises serious questions about TikTok's future.

They asked the president to support legislation extending the deadline until October, arguing that a solution to saving TikTok should go through a legislative process in Congress.

Previously, the Trump administration had considered plans involving non-Chinese investors at ByteDance to increase their holdings and acquire TikTok operations in the US. The plan includes establishing separate US entities for TikTok and reducing Chinese ownership to avoid bans in the US.

To date, the fate of the application used by the 170 million Americans is still uncertain. The senators emphasized the importance of finding long-term solutions through legislative cooperation rather than unilateral executive actions.