TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps in the world, but in the United States its future is very uncertain. TikTok belongs to a Chinese company called ByteDance. The U.S. government worries that Chinese authorities could ask ByteDance to give them American users’ data or even change the app’s algorithm. China says this will never happen, but the U.S. still wants protection. In 2024, a new law said TikTok would be banned in the U.S. unless ByteDance sold the app to a company outside of China. On January 18, TikTok suddenly disappeared from American phones. However, the next day it returned because the new president, Donald Trump, delayed the ban. He has already given four extensions, but it is not clear how many times he can do this. Now, the deadline is December 16. If no solution is found before that date, TikTok could really disappear in the U.S. For now, no one knows which company could buy TikTok, and American users continue to wait. Millions of people feel like they are on a rollercoaster, not knowing if their favorite app will stay or go.
Vocabulary :
• ban (noun/verb) : an official stop or prohibition
• deadline (noun) : the last possible date to do something
• extension (noun) : extra time allowed to finish something
• owner (noun) : the person or company that has something
• data (noun) : information, usually stored on computers
• algorithm (noun) : a set of computer rules that decides what users see online
• government (noun) : the group of leaders of a country
• authority (noun) : people or organizations with power or control
• deal (noun) : an agreement between two sides
• solution (noun) : an answer to a problem