As TikTok prepares to close down within the US, Trump mulls govt order to maintain it operating (report)

With simply a number of days left earlier than the US’s “divest-or-ban” legislation towards TikTok comes into drive, President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly mulling an govt order to droop the legislation quickly.

The suspension – to final 60 or 90 days – would give the Trump administration time to discover a purchaser for TikTok’s US operations, or to seek out one other answer, the Washington Put up reported on Wednesday (January 15).

The Info reported on Tuesday that ByteDance-owned TikTok is getting ready for a right away shutdown within the US on Sunday (January 19), the day the legislation comes into impact. Trump’s inauguration is scheduled to happen the subsequent day.

The ban, handed by a big bipartisan majority in Congress and signed into legislation by President Joe Biden final yr, offers TikTok an ultimatum: Promote the app’s US operations or face a ban in app shops and internet hosting suppliers within the US.

TikTok says it has 170 million customers in the US.

The president-elect’s place on a TikTok ban has reversed totally over the previous yr. Throughout his first time period as president, Trump issued an govt order banning TikTok, which was challenged within the courts. After Trump left workplace, President Joe Biden rescinded the order.

Nevertheless, after becoming a member of TikTok throughout the 2024 presidential race and amassing 1 million followers inside a day, the previous and future president softened his stance and repeatedly vowed to “save TikTok.” Trump now has round 14 million followers on the platform.

Authorized consultants have questioned the Trump administration’s capacity to delay or water down the TikTok legislation via govt orders.

Govt orders “usually are not magical paperwork,” former Justice Division nationwide safety adviser and College of Minnesota affiliate legislation professor Alan Rozenshtein advised the Put up.

“They’re simply press releases with nicer stationery… TikTok will nonetheless be banned, and it’ll nonetheless be unlawful for Apple and Google to do enterprise with them. However it should make the president’s intention to not implement the legislation that rather more official.”

A central a part of the divest-or-ban legislation requires TikTok to be faraway from app shops, in impact making Apple and Google key enforcers of the legislation. Throughout hearings on the legislation final week, Supreme Courtroom Justice Brett Kavanaugh steered that Apple and Google would doubtless not take the danger of failing to adjust to the ban.

Observers say TikTok’s last-ditch effort to overturn the legislation on the Supreme Courtroom is unlikely to succeed. Final yr, a federal courtroom rejected TikTok’s argument that the legislation violates the First Modification (freedom of speech) rights of American TikTok customers.

With the shutdown looming, hypothesis has abounded about potential patrons for TikTok. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (January 14) that Chinese language officers are mulling promoting the app to X/Twitter proprietor Elon Musk. Nevertheless, TikTok denied this, calling the report “pure fiction.”

It’s additionally been reported that Kevin O’Leary, the celeb/businessman recognized for his appearances on the truth present Shark Tank, is crafting a bid for TikTok with former L.A. Dodgers proprietor Frank McCourt. An individual “acquainted with TikTok’s pondering” mentioned O’Leary’s proposal is a “non-starter” and a “fairy story,” the Put up reported.

“TikTok will nonetheless be banned, and it’ll nonetheless be unlawful for Apple and Google to do enterprise with them. However it should make the president’s intention to not implement the legislation that rather more official.”

Alan Rozenshtein, College of Minnesota Legislation College

Different concepts proposed by Trump’s allies embody reviving Challenge Texas, the Put up reported. That’s a reform package deal floated a number of years in the past by TikTok that may give the US entry to TikTok’s programming and hiring choices, with the facility to veto. The Biden administration has rejected that proposal, arguing it will not tackle the administration’s nationwide safety issues.

There’s additionally hypothesis that Trump may order his lawyer normal to not implement the legislation. At a Senate affirmation listening to on Wednesday (January 15), Trump’s nominee for lawyer normal, Pam Bondi, wouldn’t say whether or not she would implement the TikTok ban, citing the continued litigation over the legislation, USA Right this moment reported.

The Put up additionally reported that some in Trump’s circle have steered carving off items of TikTok and promoting them, with the intention to fulfill the legislation’s situation that TikTok can keep away from the ban if it engages in a “certified divestiture,” a broad time period that offers the president leeway for interpretation.

With tensions between China and Western nations rising – triggered partly by Trump’s tariffs on Chinese language items throughout his first time period – lawmakers within the US and elsewhere have been elevating issues concerning the nationwide safety implications of TikTok. China-headquartered mum or dad firm ByteDance, like all companies in China, is required to cooperate with Chinese language intelligence providers.

Regardless of this, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has lengthy argued that US customers’ information shouldn’t be being shared with the Chinese language authorities.Music Enterprise Worldwide