TikTok may soon ‘go dark’ in the US after multiple extensions and repeated efforts to stitch together a divestment deal. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the popular video-sharing platform would have to halt operations in the country if China did not approve a deal for the sale of its US arm. President Donald Trump had extended the deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok for a third time last month — to September 17. “China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece. But basically, Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm. If that deal gets approved, by the Chinese, then that deal will happen. If they don’t approve it, then TikTok is going to go dark, and those decisions are coming very soon,” Lutnick told CNBC.