President Joe Biden will not enforce a ban on social media app TikTok that is set to go into effect the day before he leaves office on Monday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, U.S. officials said Thursday. did.
Congress signed legislation last year that required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the company by January 19, the day before the presidential inauguration. The official said the outgoing administration will leave enforcement of the law and possible enforcement of the ban up to President Trump.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss thinking within the Biden administration.
File – View of the TikTok app logo, September 28, 2020, Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
President Trump previously called for the app to be banned, but has since vowed to keep it available in the U.S., although his transition team has not said how he plans to accomplish that.
TikTok CEO Shou G. Mr. Chu will attend President Trump’s inauguration and is expected to be given a first-class seat on the podium.
Incoming national security adviser Mike Walz told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that “feasible agreements are being considered” regarding federal legislation that could ban TikTok by Sunday. Extensions may be granted for as long as possible.”
The effort to save TikTok crosses partisan lines, as does the effort to ban it in the United States. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with Biden on Thursday and advocated for extending the TikTok ban.
FILE – President Joe Biden speaks at an event celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Thursday, March 23, 2023, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
“If we are to find a buyer in America and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans and so many influencers who have built great networks of followers,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday, “It’s clear that we need more time.”
Democrats were trying to pass legislation Wednesday to extend the deadline, but Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas blocked it. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Cotton said TikTok had enough time to find a buyer.
“TikTok is the Chinese Communist Party’s spy app that poisons children, harvests data, targets harmful and manipulative content, and spreads communist propaganda,” Cotton said.
TikTok’s CEO is SpaceX CEO and tech billionaire Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Open AI CEO Mark Zuckerberg, two people familiar with the matter said. He is expected to sit on the podium at the inauguration ceremony, along with CEO Sam Altman and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.
The Supreme Court last week heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to the law brought by TikTok, its China-based parent company ByteDance, and the app’s users. The judges are likely to uphold a law that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban on trading in one of its largest markets.
“President Trump has been very clear that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of this law, he will continue to use TikTok as a great platform for his campaign and message.” “But secondly, he’s going to protect their data,” Walz said Wednesday.
“He’s a deal maker. He doesn’t want to preempt executive orders, but he’s going to create space for deals to be struck,” he added.
Separately on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, dodged a question at a Senate hearing about whether she supported banning TikTok.
President Trump reversed his stance on the popular app after trying to ban it during his first term, citing national security concerns. He joined TikTok during the 2024 presidential election campaign, and his team used TikTok to promote content that was often macho and aimed at going viral in order to connect with younger voters, especially male voters. He pledged to “save TikTok” during his campaign, crediting the platform with helping him reach more young voters.
Source link
