US President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the United States after he takes office on Monday.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done because it’s appropriate,” he told NBC in an interview. – If I decide to do so, I will probably announce it on Monday.
Also on Saturday, the White House called TikTok’s threat to shut down in the US on Sunday without a new statement from the Biden administration reassuring Google, Apple and other companies a “stunt”.
“We have seen the latest statement from TikTok. It’s a ploy and 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,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre 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.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House statement.
On Friday, TikTok said the platform would be “forced to cease operations” on January 19 unless the Biden administration “immediately provides a definitive statement” with assurances that it will not enforce the ban.
On Thursday, a US official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal thinking of the Biden administration said President Joe Biden would not implement the ban, leaving the fate of the social media app in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump.
With the US ban on TikTok set to begin on Sunday, The National asks cybersecurity strategist Ritesh Kotak what it might look like for the 170 million Americans who use the popular social media app and what it means for Canadian content creators.
Congress last year, in a bill signed by Biden, required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest itself of the company by Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The official said the outgoing administration is leaving enforcement of the law — and potential enforcement of the ban — to Trump.
US Supreme Court on Friday supported the law to ban TikTok in the United States on national security grounds if ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok, putting the popular short video app on track to disappear.
The court’s 9-0 decision throws the social media platform and its 170 million US users into limbo, with its fate in the hands of Trump, who previously promised to save TikTok after returning to the presidency on Monday.
