TikTok Drama Winding Down: The Information’s Tech Briefing

The first season of the TikTok drama just concluded. That’s one interpretation from the Commerce Department’s decision, reported in the Wall Street Journal, to not enforce a ban that would have prevented Apple and Google from making TikTok available in their app stores. Now the question is whether the saga comes back for a second season, which likely depends on whether soon-to-be President Biden wants to do anything about the app.

The government’s decision came in response to a judge’s order last month blocking the ban temporarily. That judge had suggested the government exceeded its powers in ordering the ban. Perhaps the Commerce Department realized that, with the Trump administration only in office another two months, a fight over TikTok isn’t worth the trouble. There were reports the other day that TikTok hadn’t heard from anyone in the administration for a few weeks, as if Trump had forgotten about the situation.