Donald Trump said he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban, which is set to take effect on Sunday, ahead of his inauguration as the 47th US president.
Trump told NBC News that an announcement would likely come on Monday after he takes office.
It comes after the social media platform warned it would “go dark” on Sunday unless the outgoing Biden administration guaranteed the ban would not be enforced.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would ban the app in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by January 19. ByteDance declined to seek a buyer.
TikTok said late Friday that the White House and Justice Department “failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that are integral to maintaining the availability of TikTok.”
But White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday that TikTok’s warning that it would go dark was a “stunt.”
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” she said.
“We have made our position clear and direct: Actions to implement this law will be up to the next administration. Therefore, TikTok and other companies should resolve any concerns with them.”
On Friday, Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok, among other things.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to be among the tech executives at Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
US national security officials have warned that Chinese spies could use the app’s data collection to track US federal employees and contractors, a charge TikTok has denied.
On Friday, the Chinese embassy in Washington DC accused the US of unfairly cracking down on TikTok: “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson said.
The platform is extremely popular among its 170 million users in the US, some of whom have lobbied members of Congress against the ban. It has also been a valuable tool for American political campaigns to reach younger voters.
Trump has previously supported banning TikTok, but recently declared a “warm spot” for the app, praising the billions of views his videos drew on the platform during last year’s presidential campaign.
Under a law passed last April, the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web-hosting services in the coming days.
Content creators who depend on the app for income have told the BBC that their lives would change immeasurably in the event of a US shutdown.
“Indirectly, TikTok has been the majority of my income because all the brands want their stuff promoted on the app,” Nicole Bloomgarden, a fashion designer and artist who uses TikTok, told the BBC.
TikTok did not respond to the BBC’s inquiries about what the potential “blackout” means in the US.
But one possible outcome is what happened in India when the app fell short of the authorities there.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to shut down dozens of Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok, in 2020 after a deadly standoff with Chinese forces along disputed border areas.
Two weeks later, India’s 200 million TikTok users could no longer log in after Indian internet service providers were ordered to block access to the app.
App stores run by Google and Apple have also stopped offering TikTok. The application did not legally challenge India’s ban.
Since the ban, competing short-form platforms have largely filled the void with TikTok copycats of Meta-owned Instagram Reels and Google-owned YouTube Shorts.
Meta is seen as a net gainer of India’s TikTok ban.
