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The “no-sale or no-ban” ban on the short video platform TikTok took effect on Sunday (January 19). People familiar with the matter in the United States said that the Biden administration is exploring how to postpone the implementation of the ban, and President-elect Trump is also considering signing it after taking office on the 20th. The executive order suspends the ban for 60 to 90 days.
Reuters reported that NBC quoted three people familiar with the matter on Wednesday evening (January 15) as saying that the Biden administration is exploring how to allow Americans to continue using
TikTok. The White House and TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Washington Post reported that Trump, who took office the day after the ban took effect, is considering issuing an executive order to suspend the TikTok ban for 60 to 90 days, but the report did not mention how Trump would do so legally.
Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that TikTok planned to cease operations in the United States that day. According to a law signed by President Biden last April, if TikTok’s parent company ByteDance fails to divest TikTok’s U.S. business, TikTok will not be allowed to be listed on Apple and Google’s app stores, and there will be no new TikTok downloads.
In theory, users who have already downloaded TikTok can still use the app, but starting on the 19th, the law also prohibits US companies from providing services for the distribution, maintenance, and updates of TikTok. People familiar with the matter said that after the ban takes effect, TikTok users will see a message when they open the app, directing them to a website about the content of the ban.
TikTok has about 170 million American users. TikTok plans to give users the option to download all their data, allowing them to save personal information.
There was no immediate comment from Trump’s transition team. Trump once said that he should be given time to seek a “political solution” to the issue after taking office.
A White House official previously told Reuters that Biden does not plan to block the ban in his final days in office if the Supreme Court does not act, and said Biden would be legally unable to do so if ByteDance does not have a credible plan to divest from TikTok. intervention.
U.S. Senator Ed Markey sought full House approval on Wednesday to extend ByteDance’s deadline for divesting TikTok by 270 days, but Republican Senator Tom Cotton opposed doing so.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether to maintain the new law and ban TikTok on the 19th, overturn the new law, or suspend the implementation of the new law to give the court more time to make a decision.
