NEW YORK (AP) — During his first term as president, Donald Trump led efforts to ban TikTok, the wildly popular video-sharing site that he said posed a threat to U.S. national security. But on the eve of his return to the White House, the president-elect is hailed as the savior of the application.
After going dark for users over the weekend, Trump said on his social media site that he would issue an executive order after he is sworn in for a second term on Monday, delaying the ban on TikTok “so that we can reach an agreement to protect our national security. » He said the order would make clear that companies will not be held liable for violating a law aimed at forcing the sale of TikTok by its China-based parent company. Hours later, the app returned, much to the relief of its legions of dedicated users.
“Thank you for your patience and support. Thanks to the efforts of President Trump, TikTok is back in the United States! read the ad.
Trump’s legal authority to unilaterally decide not to enforce the law, which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in April and was upheld by the Supreme Court Friday, it’s not clear. But the weekend’s rapid developments were a reminder of how dramatically debates over technology, social media and national security have changed since Trump’s last term in the White House. It also shows how closely Trump is following these changes after running a successful campaign in which he made inroads with voters in part by exploiting the appeal of certain social media platforms.
Trump can now take credit for relaunching an app with 170 million users that is particularly popular with young Americans, many of whom spend hours a day on the platform to get news, make money and get involved. entertain.
“It’s one of those things where domestic politics has become so upside down and crazy that it turns out there’s nothing but positive for Trump now,” said Bill Bishop, a China expert who closely followed the back and forth. If the bans end up being enforced, he said, Trump will say it was on the watch of outgoing President Joe Biden. “And if it comes back, then Trump is a savior. And it will be rewarded both by users” as well as by the company, which he says is now “indebted to Trump” and will be incentivized to ensure that content on the platform is favorable to him.
TikTok’s move comes as tech companies and CEOs work hard to improve their position with Trump. X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has enjoyed unprecedented access to the president-elect after spending more than $200 million and personally campaigning to help him get elected.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and reshaped the policies of his social media platforms to more closely align with Trump’s worldview earlier this month. end third-party fact-checkingrelaxing rules against hate speech, ending his company’s diversity and equity policies and naming Dana White, president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a familiar character in Trump’s orbit, on his board of directors.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Amazon, Meta and Google have all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Businesses have many issues, including regulatory challenges. Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president – and flourished under Biden – most experts expect his second administration relax enforcement of antitrust laws and be more receptive to corporate mergers.
TikTok has also worked to curry favor with Trump, with CEO Shou Chew meeting him at Mar-a-Lago in December and then being in Washington this weekend for Trump’s inauguration. In a video in response to the Supreme Court decisionChew was careful to praise Trump and make the fate of the app dependent on him.
“On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all of our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution to keep TikTok available in the United States,” a- he declared. “We are grateful and happy to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform. »
When the app went dark, it initially posted a simple message informing users of the change, but later updated the language to include Trump.
“Sorry, TikTok is not available at the moment,” it reads. “In the United States, a law was passed banning TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok at the moment. We’re fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!
Federal law had required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sever ties with the platform’s U.S. operations by Sunday. The Biden administration had emphasized in recent days that it did not intend to implement the ban before Trump takes office. But TikTok said it would still “go dark” because the Biden administration had not provided “the necessary clarity and assurance” to service providers – a position that outgoing deputy national security adviser Jon Finer called disingenuous.
“Frankly, it doesn’t quite seem up to par,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think we have been very clear that there is no need to take this action,” he said.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News On Saturday, it considered granting ByteDance a 90-day sales extension. ByteDance has repeatedly refused to sell, but the company is being watched by investors, including Trump’s. former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt.
Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, said there was no evidence that ByteDance had made significant progress toward divestment, “so I don’t see how, in any way, it would legally meet these conditions.
“Furthermore, an executive order cannot legally nullify or nullify a law passed by Congress,” she said. “Laws passed through the legislative process have a higher legal status and an EO that conflicts with existing law, the law takes precedence and the EO would likely be struck down by the courts. »
Sen. Tom Cotton, Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned Sunday that there is no legal basis for the type of extension Trump is considering.
“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. » he wrote about. “Think about it.”
Trump, in his Sunday message, proposed new deal terms in which he said the United States would have “a 50 percent interest in a joint venture” that would be “established between the United States and the purchase that we would choose.” But details remained murky and it was unclear whether Trump was proposing control by the U.S. government or another company. Trump did not provide details at a rally Sunday evening, where he praised the move.
“Starting today, TikTok is back,” he said. “We have no choice. We must save him.
Although Trump sought to ban TikTok during his first term, he reversed that position during his 2024 campaign, when he came to believe that a ban would help the app’s rival, Facebook, which he held responsible, in part, for his 2020 electoral defeat against Biden. .
Trump ended up join the app last year and grew its audience to nearly 15 million users. He has since credited the app with helping him win over young voters.
“I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok,” he said at a press conference in December. “TikTok has had an impact.”
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Ortutay reported from Oakland, California. Associated Press writers Charlotte Kramon and Nadia Lathan contributed to this report.
