Saving TikTok While Protecting National Security
The order formally determines that a Framework Agreement restructuring TikTok's U.S. operations into a majority American-owned joint venture — with ByteDance holding under 20 percent — constitutes a legally required 'qualified divestiture' under the federal law Congress passed to address national security concerns about the platform's Chinese ownership.
It immediately directs the Justice Department not to enforce that law for 120 days, retroactively immunizes all parties from liability since January 19, 2025, and clears the legal path for TikTok and related apps to continue serving roughly 170 million American users while the deal's final implementation documents are completed.
What this order does
What it orders
The order formally determines, following an interagency review led by the Vice President, that a proposed Framework Agreement constitutes a "qualified divestiture" under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Under the Framework Agreement, TikTok's U.S. operations would move into a new U.S.-based joint venture, majority-owned and controlled by U.S. persons, with ByteDance retaining less than 20 percent ownership. The determination covers TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut, and associated applications. The order directs the Attorney General not to enforce the Act for 120 days from signing and extends that non-enforcement retroactively to cover all conduct since January 19, 2025. The Attorney General is directed to issue written guidance, send no-liability letters to app stores and hosting providers, and serve as the U.S. government's representative under the Framework Agreement.
The order revokes a July 2024 Presidential Memorandum and amends a 2020 order requiring ByteDance to divest Musical.ly, conditioning resolution of that earlier order on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States entering a separate agreement with certain investors in the new joint venture. The President reserves authority to issue further orders as national security warrants.
Who it affects
The approximately 170 million Americans who use TikTok, content creators and businesses relying on the platform for income or advertising, app stores and internet hosting providers previously at risk of penalties, ByteDance and its subsidiaries, U.S. and foreign investors forming the new joint venture, and CFIUS as a monitoring body.
Why it matters
TikTok faces no enforcement risk for at least 120 days and no liability for conduct since January 2025. App stores and hosting providers can distribute the platform without penalty. Once the Framework Agreement's implementation documents are signed, the qualified-divestiture determination would permanently resolve the platform's legal jeopardy under the Act.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The Attorney General immediately halts enforcement and issues written guidance and no-liability letters to providers. The 120-day window is designed to allow the Framework Agreement's implementation documents to be finalized and executed, at which point the qualified-divestiture determination removes the Act's prohibitions permanently. A separate CFIUS agreement with certain investors must also be concluded to close out the 2020 ByteDance/Musical.ly national security review. U.S.-designated trusted security partners are to monitor algorithms, software updates, and data flows under the restructured joint venture on an ongoing basis.
Actions and deadlines
- Attorney General to refrain from enforcing the Act or imposing penalties on any entity for noncompliance
- Attorney General to issue written guidance implementing the non-enforcement direction
- Attorney General to send no-liability letters to appropriate providers covering the 120-day period and all prior conduct since January 19, 2025
- Attorney General to exercise all available authority to block state or private enforcement of the Act
- Attorney General to serve as the U.S. government's representative under the Framework Agreement and receive information from the joint venture and trusted security partners
- CFIUS to enter an agreement with certain Investor Parties to satisfy the amended 2020 Divestment Order and resolve national security concerns