Source: The White House, compiled by: Golden Finance
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, I hereby order:
Section I: Background. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries-Controlled Apps Act (the “Act”) (Public Act No. 118-50, Part H) regulates “foreign adversary-controlled applications” on the grounds of national security, specifically TikTok and other applications operated by subsidiaries of ByteDance Limited (headquartered in China).
Section 2(a) of the Act prohibits any entity from distributing, maintaining, or updating certain foreign adversary-controlled applications within the United States by: (1) offering such distribution, maintenance, or update services through an online mobile app store or other marketplace; or (2) providing internet hosting services to support the distribution, maintenance, or update of such applications. Section 2(g) of the Act defines “foreign adversary-controlled applications” to include websites, desktop applications, mobile applications, and augmented or immersive technology applications operated directly or indirectly by ByteDance Limited, TikTok, or certain of its subsidiaries. Pursuant to section 2(a), the Act’s prohibitions on these entities are effective on January 19, 2025. On January 20, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14166 (Applicability of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries-Controlled Applications Act to TikTok) delaying the implementation of the Act until April 5, 2025. On April 4, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14258 (Extending the Delay for TikTok), further delaying implementation of the Act until June 19, 2025. On June 19, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14310 (Further Extending the Delay for TikTok), further delaying implementation of the Act until September 17, 2025. Finally, on September 16, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14350 (Further Extending the Delay for TikTok), delaying implementation of the Act until December 16, 2025. Section 2(c) of the Act further authorizes the President to determine, through an interagency process, that TikTok has completed a “qualifying divestiture,” thereby relieving the Act’s prohibitions. To achieve a “qualifying divestiture,” TikTok must execute a transaction that frees the app from control by a foreign adversary and prevents previously affiliated entities from maintaining an “operating relationship” with the app’s operations in the United States. The Act defines an "operating relationship" as including "collaboration on the operation of content recommendation algorithms" and "agreements regarding data sharing." I have received a plan for a qualifying divestiture of TikTok's U.S. operations, as detailed in a framework agreement (the Framework Agreement). Pursuant to the Framework Agreement, TikTok's U.S. app will be operated by a newly formed joint venture. This joint venture will be majority owned and controlled by U.S. persons and will no longer be subject to control by any foreign adversary, as ByteDance Limited and its affiliates will hold less than 20% of the joint venture's shares, with the remaining shares held by specific investors (the Investors). This new joint venture will be governed by a new board of directors and subject to rules designed to appropriately protect the data of U.S. citizens and national security. Therefore, I determine that the proposed divestiture will allow the millions of Americans who use TikTok every day to continue using it while protecting national security. Section II: Ruling. (a) Under the Act, the President must conduct an interagency process before determining that a divestiture is a qualifying divestiture. Pursuant to my authority and direction, the Vice President led this interagency process, collaborating and consulting with the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Departments of the Treasury, Justice, Commerce, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This process included, but was not limited to, significant interagency deliberations and consultations, multiple briefings from numerous experts and national security officials, and extensive negotiations with external parties. This interagency process reviewed all aspects of the proposed divestiture and provided recommendations to me. (b) Having completed the interagency process contemplated by the Act, I have determined the following: (i) The TikTok app is a short-form video-centric social media platform used by approximately 170 million Americans. TikTok not only provides entertainment, but many American content creators rely on it to make a living, and many American businesses rely on it for advertising. (ii) Congress enacted this Act in response to concerns among U.S. national security agencies that the TikTok app is controlled by foreign adversaries. (iii) The divestitures proposed in the framework agreement address these national security concerns and comply with the Act because they remove the TikTok application and certain other applications from the “control” of a foreign adversary and preclude any “operational relationship” between the original affiliated entities controlled by a foreign adversary and the new joint venture. (A) First, the divestitures will remove the TikTok application and certain other applications from the control of a “foreign adversary” as defined in the Act because, among other things, the new joint venture will be based in the United States and the ownership or control of the joint venture by a foreign adversary entity or person will be less than 20%. (B) Second, the divestitures will place the operation of algorithms and code, as well as content moderation decisions, under the control of the new joint venture. (C) Third, the divestitures prohibit the storage of sensitive U.S. user data in a manner that would place such data under the control of a foreign adversary and require that such data be stored in a cloud environment operated by a U.S. company. (d) Fourth, the divestiture plan includes close monitoring of software updates, algorithms, and data flows by trusted U.S. security partners, and requires that all recommendation models (including algorithms) that use U.S. user data be retrained and monitored by these trusted security partners. (iv) These safeguards will protect the American people from data abuse and foreign adversaries while allowing the millions of U.S. users, creators, and businesses that rely on the TikTok app to continue using it. (c) Based on the above findings, I further determine that, upon execution of the Implementing Agreement, the divestitures of the applications outlined in the Framework Agreement will be “qualifying divestitures” under the Act, including the TikTok app, the Lemon8 app, the CapCut app, any other app or website officially operated by the new joint venture, and their associated or affiliated websites. Section III: Actions. (a) To allow for the completion of the contemplated divestiture, the Attorney General shall not take any action on behalf of the United States to enforce the Act for a period of 120 days beginning on the date of this order. During this period, the Department of Justice shall not take any action to enforce the Act or impose any penalty on any entity for failure to comply with the Act, including by distributing, maintaining, or updating (or permitting the distribution, maintenance, or updating) any application controlled by a foreign adversary as defined in the Act. For purposes of this directive, even after the expiration of the period specified above, the Department of Justice shall not take any action to enforce the Act or impose any penalty on any entity for any conduct that occurred during the period specified above or during any period prior to the date of this order, including from January 19, 2025, to the date of this order.
(b) The Attorney General shall take all appropriate actions and issue written guidance to implement the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. (c) The Attorney General shall send a letter to the relevant provider stating that there has been no violation of the Act and that the provider is not liable for any conduct occurring during the 120-day period specified in subsection (a) of this section and for any conduct occurring between the date of the Act’s enactment and the date of this order. (d) Because of the national security interests involved and the full authority conferred on the Attorney General by section 2(d) of the Act to investigate and enforce the Act, any attempt by a State or private individual to enforce the Act would constitute an infringement of the authority of the executive branch. The Attorney General shall exercise all available authorities to preserve and defend the exclusive authority of the executive branch to enforce the Act, including the President’s ability to make qualified divestiture determinations. (e) The Attorney General or his designee shall serve as the representative of the United States Government under the Framework Agreement. The Attorney General shall receive information on behalf of the United States Government from new joint ventures, trusted security partners, or any other third party that provides information pursuant to the Framework Agreement and this order. Trusted security partners may also share information with other United States Government officials. Section 4: Amendment and Rescission. The Presidential Memorandum of July 24, 2024 (Authorizing the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Act) is hereby rescinded. As stated in this order, I have determined that the divestitures outlined in the Framework Agreement constitute “qualifying divestitures” under the Act and address the national security concerns raised by the Act. I further determine that: (a) Executive Order of August 14, 2020 (Regarding the Acquisition of Musical.ly by ByteDance Ltd.) (the “Divestiture Order”) expressly preserves my authority to issue further orders with respect to ByteDance Ltd., Musical.ly, Musical.ly USA, and TikTok Inc. to protect national security. The national security threats described in the Divestiture Order could be fully mitigated if, subsequent to or concurrently with the execution of the Framework Implementing Agreement, CFIUS enters into agreements with certain investor parties that ensure that the economic incentives of such investor parties are consistent with complying with the provisions of the Framework Implementing Agreement to protect national security. (b) The agreement described in paragraph (a) of this section also resolves any national security concerns under section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565) arising from ByteDance Ltd.’s acquisition of Musical.ly, which was modified pursuant to the divestitures outlined in the Framework Implementing Agreement. (c) Based on the findings set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, considering the factors described in section 721(f), as appropriate, and pursuant to the authority conferred upon me by applicable law, including section 721, I hereby order: (i) Section 2(b) of the divestiture order is amended in its entirety to read as follows: “If CFIUS enters into an agreement with certain investors that is consistent with the Executive Order on Saving TikTok for National Security issued on September 25, 2025, the prohibition in paragraph (a) of this section shall cease to apply.” (ii) Section 2(g) of the divestiture order is amended to read as Section 2(c). Section 5 of the Divestiture Order shall be amended to read as follows: "Without limiting the authority of any agency under other law, the Attorney General, in consultation with CFIUS, shall be authorized to take such measures as the Attorney General deems necessary and appropriate to verify compliance with the agreement described in clause (b) of this section."
(iii) Delete sections 2(d) and 2(e) of the Divestiture Order and redesignate sections 2(f), 2(h), and 2(i) of the Divestiture Order as sections 2(d), 2(e), and 2(f), respectively.
Section V: Reserved Authorities. I hereby reserve the authority to issue further orders with respect to this matter as I determine to be necessary to protect the national security.
Section VI: General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authorities conferred by law on executive departments or agencies, or on the heads thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The expenses of issuing this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice. Donald J. Trump, The White House, September 25, 2025.
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