Tiktok is preparing a standalone version of the platform specifically for US users, part of an urgent effort to comply with the Chinese parent ordinance of the app, the ordinance, which requires the sale of US business or face a nationwide ban.
Tiktok is set to release a new version on the American App Store by September 5th, according to information, a technology publication citing an unknown source familiar with the issue. If the sale is complete, the current version of this app will be phased out completely by March 2026.
The move is seen as a step towards maintaining Tiktok’s large US user base while complying with increasing legal and political pressures.
This development comes amid a new effort by the Trump administration to enforce laws signed by former President Joe Biden and endorsed by the Supreme Court, which requires former President Joe Biden to sell TikTalk’s US assets to non-Chinese owners.
The law was passed last year with bipartisan support over concerns that the Chinese government could access sensitive data about American users. Bytedance and Tiktok have repeatedly denied that such data sharing has occurred.
President Donald Trump, who took office in January, has granted three extensions to enforce the law. The latest release, announced in June, is pushing the deadline for September 17th.
Speaking to Fox News last week, Trump said a group of “very wealthy people” were preparing to buy the platform and had pledged to disclose the names of prospects in the coming weeks.
Tiktok’s operations in the United States were temporarily suspended around the first deadline of January 19, one day before Trump’s inauguration. After taking office, Trump issued a legal stay. This is a lawsuit that is part of legal experts deemed to exceed the presidential authorities, allowing the app to resume services. Since then, the White House has postponed the deadline twice as negotiations continue.
In a statement following the latest expansion, Tiktok expressed his gratitude for the administration’s stance. “We appreciate President Trump’s leadership and support and thank him for continuing to make it available to more than 170 million American users and the 7.5 million American companies relying on the platform as Tiktok continues to work with Vice President Vance’s office,” the company said.
The US-specific version of Tiktok may offer a technical workaround in the short term, but does not rule out underlying legal and diplomatic challenges. Lawmakers who support the sale maintain that even the possibility of access to Chinese government user data poses an unacceptable risk.
With less than three months left before the latest deadline, the future for Tiktok in the US remains uncertain. Whether sales can be confirmed and whether it meets both the requirements of the US regulator and the Chinese government are questions that remain unresolved. For now, Tiktok continues to operate, but is under the narrowing window for intense scrutiny and resolution.
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