Is TikTok Still Banned in the US? (2026)
No. TikTok's US business moved into a new US-majority joint venture in January 2026. What changed, who owns it and what it means for creators.
No. TikTok is not banned in the United States. The 2024 law that threatened a ban required TikTok's US business to be separated from ByteDance, and on January 22, 2026 TikTok's US operations moved into a new, majority-American company called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC (Variety). A September 2025 executive order had already ruled that this deal counts as a "qualified divestiture" under the law, which is the exit the law allows (Executive Order 14352). The app keeps working, and TikTok is still listed on the US App Store as of September 2026 (App Store).
How we got here: the timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| April 24, 2024 | The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is signed. It sets a January 19, 2025 deadline for TikTok to be separated from ByteDance (National Constitution Center). |
| January 17, 2025 | The Supreme Court unanimously upholds the law in TikTok, Inc. v. Garland (SCOTUSblog). |
| January 20, 2025 | Executive Order 14166 delays enforcement until April 5, 2025. |
| April 4, 2025 | Executive Order 14258 delays enforcement until June 19, 2025. |
| June 19, 2025 | Executive Order 14310 delays enforcement until September 17, 2025. |
| September 16, 2025 | Executive Order 14350 delays enforcement until December 16, 2025. |
| September 25, 2025 | Executive Order 14352 approves the joint venture plan as a "qualified divestiture" and pauses enforcement for 120 days. |
| January 22, 2026 | TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is established and takes over TikTok's US operations. |
The four enforcement delays are listed in the text of Executive Order 14352 itself (GovInfo).
So for about a year, from January 2025 to January 2026, the law was in force but not enforced. That's why TikTok stayed online even though a ban was technically on the books.
Who owns TikTok in the US now
The new company is majority-owned by American investors. ByteDance keeps 19.9%, just under the 20% ceiling in the executive order. Three "managing investors", Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi's MGX, hold 15% each. Other investors include the Dell Family Office and affiliates of Susquehanna, General Atlantic and Dragoneer (Variety).
- CEO: Adam Presser, previously TikTok's head of operations and trust and safety.
- Chief security officer: Will Farrell.
- Board: seven members, a majority of them American, including TikTok CEO Shou Chew (TechCrunch).
What the joint venture controls
The split of duties explains most of what you might notice as a user or creator.
The joint venture handles:
- Data protection. US user data is protected in Oracle's US cloud environment, under a privacy and cybersecurity program audited by third parties (The Hacker News).
- The recommendation algorithm. The algorithm will be retrained, tested and updated on US user data, secured in Oracle's cloud (Variety).
- Content moderation and trust and safety for US users.
- Software assurance. The executive order requires "all recommendation models, including algorithms, that use United States user data to be retrained and monitored" by trusted security partners (Executive Order 14352).
TikTok's global companies still handle:
- E-commerce, advertising and marketing.
- "Global product interoperability", so US creators and businesses can still reach viewers in other countries.
The safeguards cover TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and other ByteDance apps and websites in the US (Variety).
What this means for creators
You can keep posting. Nothing in the deal takes TikTok off phones, and the official App Store listing is still live and being updated.
Expect your For You feed to shift. A recommendation model retrained on US data won't behave exactly like the old one. Neither TikTok nor the joint venture has said how the feed will change. Judge by your own analytics for a few weeks rather than by rumours.
Don't rely on one platform. The ban scare was a warning even though it didn't happen. If TikTok is your only channel, one policy change or algorithm update can wipe out your reach. The fix is cheap: post the same vertical clips to YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels too. Our Shorts vs TikTok vs Reels monetization guide compares what each one pays, and our older post on repurposing after the TikTok ban threat covers the basics.
If you cut clips from longer videos, Exemplary AI (our product) makes captioned vertical clips you can download once and upload to all three apps with the AI clip maker.
Keep your posting habits. The fundamentals haven't changed: a strong first two seconds, captions for muted viewing, and posting when your viewers are active. See the best time to post on TikTok and how to get more views on TikTok.
Common misreadings
- "TikTok was sold to Oracle." Not quite. Oracle is one of three managing investors with 15% each, and it provides the cloud and security role. Nobody bought TikTok outright.
- "ByteDance is gone." No. ByteDance keeps 19.9% of the US joint venture and still runs TikTok outside the US.
- "There's a new TikTok app to download." None of the official sources we checked tells US users to switch apps. The App Store listing is the same TikTok app.
FAQ
Is TikTok banned in the US right now?
No. The US app is run by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, established on January 22, 2026 to meet the 2024 law's divestiture requirement. It is available on the US App Store as of September 2026.
Will TikTok be banned again?
Executive Order 14352 treats the joint venture as a "qualified divestiture", the route the law provides for the app to keep operating. We found no new enforcement deadline in official sources as of September 2026. A future law or court case could change that, but none is in force today.
Who owns TikTok now?
In the US, a joint venture majority-owned by American investors. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX hold 15% each, ByteDance keeps 19.9%, and other investors own the rest. Outside the US, TikTok is still run by ByteDance's global companies.
Is CapCut banned in the US?
No. CapCut and Lemon8 are covered by the joint venture's safeguards along with TikTok, and CapCut is still on the US App Store.
Did the TikTok algorithm change?
It's being retrained on US user data inside Oracle's US cloud, as the deal requires. TikTok hasn't published what that means for ranking, so watch your own retention and views rather than assuming a big change.
