TikTok

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At 3am, Teens' TikTok Challenge Ends in Murder

18-year-old shot and killed during 'ding dong ditch' on prom day in Virginia

(Newser) - A late-night TikTok prank in a quiet Virginia suburb turned deadly when an 18-year-old high school senior was shot while filming with friends on prom day. What started as a "ding dong ditch" for social media ended with an arrest for second-degree murder, reports the Washington Post . Michael...

Trump Gives TikTok 75-Day Reprieve
Trump Gives TikTok
75-Day Reprieve
Apr 4, 2025 1:15 PM CDT

Trump Gives TikTok 75-Day Reprieve

President wants more time for a buyer to come forward

(Newser) - President Trump on Friday said is signing an executive order to keep TikTok running in the US for another 75 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. Congress had mandated that the platform be divested from China...

Report: Amazon Makes Last-Minute Bid for TikTok

Without a sale, ban could take effect Saturday

(Newser) - With the clock ticking on the deadline for TikTok to acquire new ownership in the US or face a ban, Amazon has put in a last-minute bid, insiders tell outlets including the AP and the New York Times . The Times' sources say Amazon made the offer in a letter to...

Feds: US Airman Pretended to Be 13 on TikTok, Roblox

David Ibarra, 31, is now accused of having 9-year-old Long Island girl send him sexually explicit pics

(Newser) - A US airman has been charged with coercing a 9-year-old girl to share sexually explicit images of herself after he posed as a 13-year-old and chatted with the child on TikTok and the gaming site Roblox. David Ibarra, 31, was arraigned Wednesday in a New York federal court after being...

Don't Fall Prey to Tempting 'Airport Theory'
Don't Fall Prey to
Tempting 'Airport Theory'
THE RUNDOWN
Mar 23, 2025 9:30 AM CDT

Don't Fall Prey to Tempting 'Airport Theory'

TikTok trend tells people to get to airports just 15 minutes before flight; it doesn't always end well

(Newser) - Short on time and looking for an adrenaline rush? You might be curious, then, about the new "airport theory" trend circulating on TikTok, which suggests to airline passengers that they'll be fine getting to the airport just 15 minutes before their flight, not hours beforehand as is usually...

Human Smugglers at the Border Turn to TikTok

Social media is helping them expand their reach to those looking for a way into the US

(Newser) - The videos roll through TikTok in 30-second flashes. Migrants trek in camouflage through desert terrain. Dune buggies roar up to the US-Mexico border barrier. Families with young children pass through gaps in the wall. Laced with emojis, the videos posted by smugglers offer a simple promise: If you don't...

Big Name Joins the Movement to Buy TikTok

Alexis Ohanian signs on with Frank McCourt's Project Liberty, wants 'TikTok: Freedom Edition'

(Newser) - Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has joined billionaire Frank McCourt's bid to acquire TikTok as a strategic adviser, reports the AP . McCourt's internet advocacy organization, Project Liberty, announced this week that Ohanian, an investor married to tennis star Serena Williams, had joined a consortium called "The People's...

TikTok Is Back
TikTok Is Back
Feb 14, 2025 1:30 AM CST

TikTok Is Back

Google, Apple return it to their app stores

(Newser) - You can once again download TikTok from your app store of choice after Google and Apple both restored the social media app's availability. After a law banning TikTok went into effect in the US, the Chinese-owned app was removed from app stores, but it has now returned following President...

Trump Signs Order to Create Sovereign Wealth Fund

New US investment fund could take stake in TikTok

(Newser) - President Trump signed an executive order Monday to create a national sovereign wealth fund, which could be used for the US to acquire a stake in TikTok. More than 100 countries have such funds, which act as national investment funds, controlling a total of more than $8 trillion in assets,...

Trump: Microsoft Is Eyeing TikTok
Trump:
Microsoft Is
Eyeing TikTok
Jan 28, 2025 3:30 AM CST

Trump: Microsoft Is Eyeing TikTok

President indicates 'bidding war' is brewing

(Newser) - President Trump said Monday evening that Microsoft is among the US companies looking to take control of TikTok to help the popular app avert an effective ban that could kick-in in April, the AP reports. "I would say yes," Trump told reporters when asked if Microsoft was one...

Farmers Worry About the Fate of 'FarmTok'

Farmers use social media as vital tool to engage the public, advertise, share information

(Newser) - Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. "Farming is for the girls," she quips. On Instagram and TikTok, as "farmwithzoe," Kent films herself...

China: Xi Call With Trump Was 'Exceedingly Warm'
Trump Softens His
Rhetoric on China
Jan 24, 2025 1:47 PM CST

Trump Softens His Rhetoric on China

Says he'd 'rather not have to use' tariffs against China, which says Xi call with Trump was 'warm'

(Newser) - The three "T's" were on the agenda during President Trump's phone call, ahead of his inauguration, with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week: TikTok, trade, and Taiwan, reports Reuters . And it was "a good, friendly conversation" that "went fine," Trump told Fox News in...

Trump: 'Sad Thing' That Biden Didn't Pardon Himself

President sits down with Fox's Sean Hannity, with a slew of topics on the agenda

(Newser) - President Trump sat down with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, his first sit-down interview since the inauguration, per the BBC . They covered a range of topics, from pardons and TikTok to FEMA and the JFK files. A quick recap of some standout quotes from their interview, per the...

TikTok Begins Restoring Service After Trump Pledge

Next national security adviser says president-elect and China's president agreed to work together on issue

(Newser) - TikTok announced Sunday that it's begun the process of restoring service to users in the US, after a shutdown began the night before. A statement said the change was in response to President-elect Trump's post promising to postpone enforcement of the US ban on the platform to give...

TikTok Goes Dark in the US, for Now
Trump Commits to Delay
After TikTok Goes Dark
updated
Jan 19, 2025 10:09 AM CST

Trump Commits to Delay After TikTok Goes Dark

App shuts down in US, but president-elect says he'll sign an executive order on Monday

(Newser) - TikTok is no longer working for most users in America, but President-elect Trump committed on Sunday to officially delaying enforcement of the ban. Chinese parent company ByteDance began shuttering the app at 10:30pm Saturday to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on Friday, reports USA Today . Those who attempt...

Trump Floats 90-Day Extension for TikTok to Cut a Deal

White House agrees the enforcement of the new law is up to the next administration

(Newser) - President-elect Trump said Saturday that he'll "most likely" give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from its mandated shutdown when he takes office so its parent company can work out a deal for the platform. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or take...

Where Things Stand on TikTok After Supreme Court Ruling

'Stay tuned!' writes President-elect Trump, who says platform's fate is in his hands

(Newser) - The Supreme Court opted on Friday to uphold the ban on TikTok in the name of national security, meaning if parent company ByteDance, which is based in China, doesn't find a US buyer to take over the company before Sunday, the app will essentially die a slow death in...

Supreme Court Upholds Ban on TikTok
Supreme Court
Upholds Ban on TikTok
Jan 17, 2025 9:33 AM CST

Supreme Court Upholds Ban on TikTok

New users won't be able to download it come Sunday unless a US buyer emerges

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it's sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overrides concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in...

Biden Won't Enforce TikTok Ban: Source

App's fate will apparently be left to President-elect Trump

(Newser) - President Biden won't enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday, a US official said Thursday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Trump. Congress last year, in a law signed by Biden,...

As Ban Approaches, Here Are TikTok's Options
Trump Aims to
Save TikTok: Report
UPDATED
Jan 16, 2025 2:00 AM CST

Trump Aims to Save TikTok: Report

Social media platform in danger of going dark this weekend

(Newser) - President-elect Trump is considering ways he could "preserve" TikTok once he takes office, according to a GOP congressman. If the Supreme Court upholds the US ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform, Trump "has been very clear" about what he'd do, Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump's pick...

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