Washington As soon as he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue an administrative order that would postpone a legislation that would have outlawed the well-known social media app TikTok until its parent business sells it. Trump made this announcement on Sunday.
I’m pleading with businesses to keep TikTok open! stated on his TruthSocial page. In order to reach an agreement to safeguard our national security, I will issue an executive order on Monday to prolong the time before the law’s prohibitions go into effect. Additionally, the order will affirm that no company that assisted in preventing TikTok from going black prior to my order will be held liable.
After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the statute on Friday, TikTok went down for American users on Saturday night. According to the Associated Press, in order to comply with the law, Google and Apple took the app down from respective digital storefronts. However, TikTok was operating normally again by Sunday noon.
In his post, Trump stated that he wanted to investigate ways to maintain TikTok’s viability in the US.
In a joint venture, I would prefer that the US control 50% of the business. By doing this, we preserve TikTok, ensure its safety, and let it flourish. Without U.S. clearance, Tik Tok would not exist. It is worth hundreds of billions, if not trillions, with our consent, he wrote.
Consequently, my first idea is a joint venture between the existing and/or new owners in which the United States receives 50% ownership in the joint venture established between the United States and whichever purchase we decide upon.
ByteDance, the main firm of TikTok, was forced by the bipartisan bill passed last year to sell the site by Sunday or risk being kicked out of U.S. app stores.
TikTok argued for First Amendment rights and challenged the law all the way to the Supreme Court, but they were unsuccessful.
In its decision, the court stated that there is no question that TikTok provides over 170 million Americans with a unique and wide-ranging platform for expression, interaction, and community building. However, in order to address its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data gathering tactics and relationship with a foreign adversary, Congress has decided that divestiture is required. We conclude that the challenged provisions do not infringe upon the petitioners’ First Amendment rights for the reasons listed above.
Trump, who wanted to outlaw TikTok during his first administration, now supports the app remaining on Americans’ cell phones as a result of the 27-page court decision.
Trump stated in a tweet on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday that he would deal with the matter after he assumes office.
I recently had a conversation with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping. Trump wrote that the call was excellent for the United States and China. I anticipate that we will work together to find solutions to a lot of issues, and we will get started right away. Among many other topics, we talked about balancing trade, fentanyl, and TikTok. Together with President Xi, we will do everything in our can to promote global peace and security!
In 2020, Trump signed an executive order banning the video platform until it broke with ByteDance, but he changed his mind last year.
During Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi declined to directly respond to a question regarding whether she would order the Justice Department to enforce the TikTok ban, citing ongoing litigation.
According to someone acquainted with the arrangements, Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, is anticipated to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
As Trump takes the oath of office, Chew won’t be the only tech CEO seated close by. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, and Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, are anticipated to attend. Both contributed one million dollars to Trump’s inauguration.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, Chew shared a video on social media in which he thanked Trump for his pledge to cooperate with us in order to find a solution that would maintain TikTok’s availability in the US.
“This is a strong stand against arbitrary censorship and in support of the First Amendment,” he said. TikTok, which has over 7 million American businesses, is a platform where users can express themselves, build communities, and find new interests.
During the 2022 U.S. midterm election cycle, candidates from both political parties were allegedly targeted by TikTok accounts operated by a propaganda arm of the People’s Republic of China, according to a report released by the director of national intelligence in February 2024.
After a 352-65 vote in March of last year, the House voted in favor of the law that requires TikTok’s parent firm to sell the app or lose access to the American social media market. A month later, the bill was approved by Congress as part of a bigger supplemental package.
It was signed into law by President Joe Biden. He did, however, state that he will not enforce it, leaving the decision to be made by the new Trump government.
Since Congress brought a law to the president’s desk in a bipartisan, overwhelming manner, President Biden’s stance on TikTok has been obvious for months: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated in a statement that TikTok should continue to be accessible to Americans, but only under American ownership or another ownership that takes into account the national security issues that Congress outlined when creating this statute.
Because of the timing, this Administration understands that the next Administration, which assumes office on Monday, will have to take over the task of putting the law into effect.
The main justification offered by Congress and the Biden administration for compelling ByteDance’s parent business to sell the app was concerns from national security officials regarding the company’s connections to the Chinese government.
Although about 20% of the company is still owned by its Chinese founders, TikTok asserts that the majority of its investors are from around the world, including Blackrock and the Susquehanna International Group.
Republicans vetoed a last-minute attempt by Democratic senators on Wednesday to extend ByteDance’s deadline to divest from TikTok.
