TikTok, tariffs, and trials: everything happening in tech’s chaotic April
As TikTok’s April 5th sell-by date approaches, Americans are back to where they stood before the original January deadline: watching anxiously to see if a major social media app gets banned. But that’s far from the only big event we’ll see over the coming month. April is filled with momentous turns in long-running tech policy stories — some possibly industry-changing, others at risk of fizzling out.
The first two and a half months of President Donald Trump’s second term were highly consequential for the tech industry, which faces real challenges despite largely cozying up to Trump. After the chaos of the fired FTC commissioners, DOGE’s dismantling of the federal government, and constantly delayed tariffs, the next few weeks could be extraordinarily busy, too. Deadlines that Trump let slip are coming up, as are long-planned ones, such as those covering TikTok, new tariffs, and a pair of juggernaut antitrust cases involving Apple and Meta.
Here’s everything you need to know to be prepared.
April 2nd: tariffs
Trump said he intentionally chose April 2nd over April Fools’ Day because he’s “a little superstitious,†but it’s still wise to expect the unexpected for …