By JILL COLVIN and BARBARA ORTUTAY, Related Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Throughout his first time period as president, Donald Trump led the trouble to ban TikTok, the massively standard video-sharing web site he stated posed a menace to U.S. nationwide safety. However on the eve of his return to the White Home, the president-elect is being hailed because the app’s savior.
After going darkish for customers this weekend, Trump stated on his social media web site that he would challenge an govt order after he’s sworn in for a second time period on Monday delaying a TikTok ban “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.” He stated the order would clarify that corporations won’t be held answerable for violating a legislation that aimed to drive TikTok’s sale by its China-based father or mother firm. Hours later, the app returned, to the aid of its legions of devoted customers.
“Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” learn the announcement.
Trump’s authorized authority to unilaterally resolve to not implement the legislation, which handed with overwhelming bipartisan assist in April and was upheld by the Supreme Courtroom on Friday, is unclear. However the speedy developments over the weekend served as a reminder of how dramatically debates over expertise, social media and nationwide safety have modified since Trump was final within the White Home. It additionally signaled how intently Trump is following these shifts after waging a profitable marketing campaign wherein he made inroads with voters partly by harnessing the attraction of some social media platforms.
“This is one of those things where the domestic politics has become so upside down and crazy that it turns out there’s only upside for Trump now,” stated Invoice Bishop, a China professional who has been intently following the back-and-forth. If the bans finally ends up being enforced, he stated, Trump will say it was on outgoing President Joe Biden’s watch. “And if it does come back then Trump is a savior. And he will be rewarded both by users” in addition to the corporate, which he stated is now “beholden to Trump” and could have an incentive to ensure content material on the platform is favorable to him.
TikTok’s transfer comes as tech corporations and CEOs have been been working furiously to enhance their standing with Trump. X proprietor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has loved unprecedented entry to the president-elect after spending greater than $200 million and personally campaigning to assist him get elected.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and reshaped his social media platforms’ insurance policies to align extra intently with Trump’s worldview earlier this month, ending third-party fact-checking, loosening guidelines towards hate speech, ending his firm’s range and fairness insurance policies and naming Dana White, the president and CEO of Final Preventing Championship and a well-known determine in Trump’s orbit, to its board.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Amazon, Meta and Google have all pledged to donate $1 million every to Trump’s inaugural fund.
The businesses have loads on the road, together with regulatory challenges. Though federal regulators started cracking down on Google and Fb throughout Trump’s first time period as president — and flourished beneath Biden — most consultants anticipate his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be extra receptive to enterprise mergers.
TikTok additionally labored to curry Trump’s favor, with CEO Shou Chew assembly with him at Mar-a-Lago in December. In a video responding to the Supreme Courtroom determination, Chew was cautious to reward Trump and forged the app’s destiny as depending on him.
“On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he stated. “We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform.”
When the app went darkish, it had initially posted a easy message informing customers of the change, however later up to date the language to incorporate Trump.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” it learn. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
The federal legislation had required TikTok father or mother firm ByteDance to chop ties with the platform’s U.S. operations by Sunday. The Biden administration had careworn in current days that it didn’t intend to implement the ban earlier than Trump took workplace. However TikTok stated it will nonetheless “go dark” as a result of the Biden administration had not offered “necessary clarity and assurance” to service suppliers — a stance outgoing Deputy Nationwide Safety Adviser Jon Finer forged as disingenuous.
“Frankly, it doesn’t feel completely on the level,” he stated on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think we were extremely clear that there was no need to take this action,” he stated.
Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell College’s Tech Coverage Institute, stated there was no proof ByteDance had made any significant progress towards divestiture, “so I don’t see how, by any measure, it would legally meet those conditions.”
“Further, an Executive Order cannot legally override or cancel a law that Congress passed,” she stated. “Laws enacted through the legislative process have a higher legal standing and an EO that conflicts with the existing law, the law takes precedence and the EO would likely be struck down by the courts.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Choose Committee on Intelligence, warned Sunday that there isn’t a authorized foundation for the type of extension Trump is pursuing.
“Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs,” he wrote on X. “Think about it.”
Trump, in his Sunday publish, proposed new phrases of a deal wherein he stated america would have “a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” that may be “set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.” However the particulars remained murky and it was unclear whether or not Trump was proposing management by the U.S. authorities or one other firm. Trump didn’t elaborate throughout a rally Sunday night time, the place he hailed the transfer.
“As of today, TikTok is back,” he stated. “We have no choice. We have to save it.”
Although Trump sought to ban TikTok throughout his first time period, he reversed that stance throughout his 2024 marketing campaign, when he got here to consider a ban would assist the app’s rival, Fb, which he held accountable, partly, to his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Trump ended up becoming a member of the app final yr and has grown his following to just about 15 million customers. He has since credited the app for serving to him win over younger voters.
Ortutay reported from Oakland, California. Related Press writers Charlotte Kramon and Nadia Lathan contributed to this report.
Initially Revealed: January 19, 2025 at 6:42 PM PST
