President Joe Biden received’t implement a ban on the social media app TikTok that’s set to take impact a day earlier than he leaves workplace on Monday, a U.S. official stated Thursday, leaving its destiny within the arms of President-elect Donald Trump.
Congress final yr, in a legislation signed by Biden, required that TikTok’s China-based dad or mum firm ByteDance divest the corporate by Jan. 19, a day earlier than the presidential inauguration. The official stated the outgoing administration was leaving the implementation of the legislation — and the potential enforcement of the ban — to Trump.
The official spoke on situation of anonymity so as to talk about inside Biden administration pondering.
Trump, who as soon as referred to as to ban the app, has since pledged to maintain it accessible within the U.S., although his transition group has not stated how they intend to perform that.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is predicted to attend Trump’s inauguration and be granted a major seating location on the dais because the president-elect’s nationwide safety adviser alerts that the incoming administration might take steps to “maintain TikTok from going darkish.”
Incoming nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday informed Fox Information Channel’s “Fox & Mates” that the federal legislation that might ban TikTok by Sunday additionally “permits for an extension so long as a viable deal is on the desk.”
The push to save lots of TikTok, very like the transfer to ban it within the U.S., has crossed partisan traces. Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer stated he spoke with Biden on Thursday to advocate for extending the deadline to ban TikTok.
“It’s clear that extra time is required to seek out an American purchaser and never disrupt the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of Individuals, of so many influencers who’ve constructed up an excellent community of followers,” Schumer stated Thursday on the Senate flooring.
Democrats had tried on Wednesday to cross laws that will have prolonged the deadline, however Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas blocked it. Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated that TikTok has had ample time to discover a purchaser.
“TikTok is a Chinese language Communist spy app that addicts our children, harvests their information, targets them with dangerous and manipulative content material, and spreads communist propaganda,” Cotton stated.
TikTok CEO’s is predicted to be seated on the dais for the inauguration together with tech billionaires Elon Musk, who’s CEO of SpaceX, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, based on two folks with the matter. The folks spoke on situation of anonymity to debate inside planning.
Final week, the Supreme Courtroom heard oral arguments in a authorized problem to the statute introduced by TikTok, its China-based dad or mum firm ByteDance, and customers of the app. The Justices appeared prone to uphold the legislation, which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok on nationwide safety grounds or face a ban in certainly one of its greatest markets.
“If the Supreme Courtroom comes out with a ruling in favor of the legislation, President Trump has been very clear: Primary, TikTok is a superb platform that many Individuals use and has been nice for his marketing campaign and getting his message out. However quantity two, he’s going to guard their information,” Waltz stated on Wednesday.
“He’s a deal maker. I don’t wish to get forward of our govt orders, however we’re going to create this area to place that deal in place,” he added.
Individually on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s decide for lawyer normal, dodged a query throughout a Senate listening to on whether or not she’d uphold a TikTok ban.
Trump has reversed his place on the favored app, having tried to ban it throughout his first time period in workplace over nationwide safety issues. He joined TikTok throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign and his group used it to attach with youthful voters, particularly male voters, by pushing content material that was typically macho and geared toward going viral. He pledged to “save TikTok” in the course of the marketing campaign and has credited the platform with serving to him win extra youth votes.
