Getting lots of questions about the fate of TikTok today, so I’ll try to outline what we know and don’t know below. Follow along!

The first thing everyone wants to know is, is TikTok banned in the US? The short answer is NO, not at the moment.

The deadline that came and went on Nov. 12 stems from an executive order that Trump signed on Aug. 14.

That order simply requires that TikTok be sold by Nov. 12. There is no “or else” clause. Nothing in there says that TikTok has to be sold or it will be banned.

This has been the single biggest point of confusion with the administration’s interlocking executive orders on TikTok and Trump’s own rhetoric on the issue.

Trump’s rhetoric has often linked a sale of TikTok with a ban, implying that one could result in avoiding the other.

But this quid pro quo is never actually contemplated in the text of Trump’s executive orders.

There are two orders. One simply said that after a number of days, business dealings with TikTok will be banned. There was no mention that a deal could avert the ban.

The second order said that TikTok must be divested by Nov. 12. There was no mention that TikTok would be banned if it didn’t meet the deadline. There are no other consequences outlined. Just that the attorney general has authority to take any steps to enforce the order.

Under the first order, the Commerce Department tried to implement the ban by making it illegal to host TikTok on US app stores. It also said that after Nov. 12, internet infrastructure companies will not be allowed to handle TikTok’s traffic.

The date “Nov. 12” here is coincidentally the same as the date specified in the second executive order. But beyond that there is no linkage between Commerce’s attempted restrictions under the first executive order and Trump’s second executive order.

Now, basically everything in the first order has been put on hold. Commerce’s attempted restrictions, including the app store ban and the internet infrastructure rules, have both been temporarily blocked by two different federal courts. Commerce has agreed to comply.

The Trump administration appealed the injunction blocking the app store ban, and that litigation continues at the DC Circuit.

That’s everything we have on the first executive order.

Turning to the second executive order, the one requiring TikTok be divested by Nov. 12, TikTok this week asked the DC Circuit to prevent that deadline from taking effect.

The court has so far not ruled on that petition. Yesterday it released a scheduling order that seems to ask TikTok to file supporting documents in its case by Dec. 14.

But nowhere does that order officially block the Nov. 12 deadline.

So where does that leave us?

TikTok’s proposed sale is incomplete, and must still be approved by both the US government and China.

We’ve blown past the Nov. 12 deadline established in Trump’s second executive order, but nobody knows what the consequences of that are.

Experts say there are maybe three paths forward.

1. The USG blesses the proposed deal

2. The USG grants a limited extension of the deadline

3. The USG sues to have Trump’s Nov. 12 divestiture deadline enforced somehow

As to what this means for TikTok users? In the short term, nothing. Commerce won’t ban the app from US app stores or ban internet infrastructure companies from handling its traffic.

In the longer term, the litigation is stil unsettled and there’s a deal that still needs review.

That’s all we got right now. The end.

NEW: CFIUS has granted TikTok a 15-day extension on the divestiture deadline, changing it from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27, according to a court filing notifying the US district court judge of the change: https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/6UQYGSY/TIKTOK_INC_et_al_v_TRUMP_et_al__dcdce-20-02658__0056.0.pdf?mcid=tGE3TEOA