President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, a relief for users of the social media platform even as national security concerns persist.
TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance was supposed to find a U.S. buyer or be banned on January 19. Trump’s order could give ByteDance more time to find a buyer.
“I guess I have a thing for TikTok,” Trump said.
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, attended Trump’s inauguration earlier today, sitting down with American tech heavyweights.
Trump has amassed nearly 15 million followers on TikTok since he joined last yearand he credited the forward-thinking platform with helping him gain traction with young voters. Yet its 170 million U.S. users were unable to access TikTok for more than 12 hours between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
The platform went offline before the ban approved by Congress and upheld by the United States Supreme Court took effect Sunday. After Trump promised to suspend the ban on Monday, Access restored to TikTok for existing users. However, Google and Apple have still not reinstated TikTok to their app stores.
Business leaders, lawmakers, lawyers and influencers who make money on TikTok are watching as Trump attempts to resolve a number of regulatory, legal, financial and geopolitical issues with his signature.
How did the TikTok ban come about?
TikTok’s app allows users to create and watch short-form videos and broke new ground by working with an algorithm that powered viewers’ recommendations based on their viewing habits. But concerns about its potential to serve as a tool for Beijing to manipulate and spy on Americans predate Trump’s first presidency.
In 2020, Trump issued decrees banning relationships with ByteDance and the owners of Chinese messaging app WeChat. The courts ultimately blocked the orders, but less than a year ago, Congress overwhelmingly passed a law citing national security concerns to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sold it to an approved buyer.
The law, which took effect Sunday, provides for fines of up to $5,000 per U.S. TikTok user against major mobile app stores — like those operated by Apple and Google — and internet hosting services like Oracle s They continue to distribute TikTok to American users. beyond the ByteDance sale deadline.
Trump said on Sunday that he had asked TikTok’s U.S. service providers to continue supporting the platform and app as he prepared to sign an executive order to end the ban for the time being.
“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social networking site.
The law passed by Congress and signed by former President Joe Biden in April included a 90-day extension if progress had been made toward a sale before the law’s effective date. It is less certain whether this provision can be applied retroactively, according to Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University.
“Executive orders cannot override existing laws,” Kreps said. “It is not clear that the new president has the authority to extend for 90 days a law that has already taken effect.”
What difference could selling TikTok make?
Kreps also doubts that at this point the conditions for a delay exist without even a potential buyer being named to prove a sale is underway.
But Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote that the law also empowers the president to decide what constitutes a “qualified assignment” — suggesting that Trump may have discretion to say if and when ByteDance complies with the terms of the Protection of Americans from Aliens Act. Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
Although ByteDance has spent months repeating that it is not interested in a sale, Beijing also signaled on Monday a possible softening of China’s stance on TikTok to allow it to divest from its Chinese parent company. Chinese Vice President held meetings with VP JD Vance and Tesla tech titan Elon Musk on Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday that business operations and acquisitions “should be decided independently by companies in accordance with market principles.”
“If they are Chinese companies, Chinese laws and regulations must be respected,” Mao said.
Until now, it was widely believed that Beijing would not allow the sale of TikTok, which has come to embody China’s challenge to “American theft.” However, TikTok was among several issues discussed Friday in a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump, although details were not available.
Trump said Monday he was seeking the U.S. government to strike a deal for 50% control of TikTok, adding that “every rich person” had called him about acquiring the social media platform.
“I think the United States should have the right to get half of TikTok and, congratulations, TikTok has a good partner and it would be worth, you know, could be $500 billion,” Trump said. “The numbers are crazy, but it’s worthless” without an American buyer.
Who or what can enforce the ban?
The Department of Justice is generally responsible for enforcing the laws of the federal government. Trump’s executive order directs the U.S. attorney general not to take any action to enforce the TikTok ban for 75 days “to allow my administration to determine the appropriate course of action in an orderly manner that protects national security while avoiding a sudden interruption of communications. platform used by millions of Americans.
Such a move could itself be subject to legal review, but would buy TikTok time.
Trump’s efforts to save TikTok could put him at odds with some House members and senators who voted for the law, which received broad bipartisan support. House Speaker Mike Johnson called ByteDance ownership “a very dangerous thing” and said he expected a complete sale.
“I think we will enforce the law,” Johnson said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Lawmakers now risk “looking a little stupid” if the ban doesn’t last, Kreps said.
“(The case) is about separation of powers, and checks and balances, and the fact that we don’t have a king who decides what happens with the law,” Kreps said. “Enforcing the rules is not just the responsibility of the executive branch. »
What are the other potential legal obstacles?
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, in a post on X, listed a number of state and federal agencies, as well as private entities, that might be willing to go to court to enforce the ban.
“Any company that hosts, distributes, maintains or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars in ruinous liability under the law, not only from the DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder suits and state AGs. » Cotton noted.
Despite the scrutiny and potential costs involved, the machinations around TikTok are somewhat just business as usual for the tech companies involved, according to Gus Hurwitz, a legal fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics.
“The fines we’re talking about are civil penalties and companies are constantly at risk of civil penalties,” Hurwitz said.
Still, the difficult business calculus of complying with a law in limbo or risking defying a president who holds lucrative federal contracts on these companies could become problematic if shareholders sue.
Oracle, for example, owns part of the $9 billion Pentagon contract to build its cloud computing network.
“This might actually be the right business decision to make,” Hurwitz said. “This is not necessarily a breach of duty to shareholders.”
Which companies decide to trust Trump’s assurances?
Many questions have been asked about how companies like Oracle and Akamai Technologies power TikTok’s servers to stay online, while others, like Apple and Google, have made the app unavailable for downloading new users.
Neither company responded to requests for comment.
Oracle announced in 2020 that it had a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global after securing its business as the app’s cloud technology provider.
Meanwhile, as of Monday evening, a search for TikTok on Apple’s app store returns an online statement that says in part: “Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates,” while Google’s app store notes downloads for TikTok.” are suspended due to current US legal requirements.
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Ho reported from Seattle. Maya Sweedler, Didi Tang and Josh Boak in Washington contributed reporting.
