Many of us have probably spent more than our fair share of time scrolling through TikTok this summer, and likely have all seen the controversial headlines about President Trump claiming he’ll ban TikTok. 

According to Business Insider, his proposed ban lies in concerns that the Chinese company who owns the app, ByteDance, may be allowing the Chinese government to maliciously use American data, given the government’s tight control over internet and business within its borders. No substantial evidence has proven these allegations, although TikTok is being investigated by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) and experts on China say these concerns shouldn’t be dismissed. 

Many TikTok users and creators have claimed that Trump’s ban is more personal than political. This is due to the fact that he announced his wish to ban the app shortly after TikTok users infamously mobilized to falsely inflate attendance estimates at his July rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As of now, Trump has told ByteDance that they must sell the US Operations of TikTok to an American company by Sept. 15, or else he will ban the app entirely. Currently, the company most likely to buy the operations is Microsoft. If the deal, valued at $10-$30 billion, were to go through, the concern about Chinese use of American data would be eliminated. 

If the US Operations are not sold by the deadline, it is unclear how Trump would actually ban the app, and if such a ban would be legal or effective in the first place. Whatever happens, we at least have a few more weeks to keep indulging in TikTok; That screen time won’t raise itself.