TikTok ban poised for January 2025 despite Trump's past support
The law banning TikTok in the United States could be enacted in January 2025. On Friday, a court of appeals rejected a request to block these regulations. The question remains what Donald Trump will do, as he defended the app during his campaign. However, indications suggest he might have changed his mind.
On Friday, December 6, the court of appeals rejected the request to block the new federal law from April of this year, which mandates the Chinese owner of TikTok—the company ByteDance (full name: Beijing ByteDance Technology Co Ltd)—to sell its U.S. operations within nine months. Otherwise, the app used by 170 million Americans will be blocked in the U.S.
Why does the U.S. want to get rid of TikTok?
The American legislator has advocated for the forced sale of the Chinese app in the U.S. because ByteDance is subject to the Chinese government's influence. Thus, it may hand over American citizens' sensitive data to the Beijing regime. Moreover, China could use TikTok's algorithm for propaganda and disinformation purposes, posing a security and destabilization risk to Americans.
The Chinese company dismisses these allegations, citing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (freedom of speech). However, a three-judge panel in Washington on Friday unanimously supported the new U.S. law to protect national security and user privacy.
The federal court rejected the request to block these regulations and ruled that they do not violate freedom of speech protections. This decision means ByteDance only has one option left to prevent the ban from taking effect on January 19, 2025: It can appeal to the Supreme Court.
As Bloomberg reminds, the anti-TikTok law takes effect a day before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who during his campaign opposed the ban on TikTok in the U.S., seeking the votes of young Americans, even though during his first term he wanted to force the sale of TikTok to the Chinese. Trump's potential opposition to the new regulations could complicate the enforcement of this law.
5 arguments that might persuade Trump
According to Bloomberg, Trump could also be the person who seals the ban on TikTok's operations in the U.S. Several arguments support this view, including the fact that Trump has filled his cabinet partly with staunch opponents of the Chinese app. At the top of this list is Trump's nominee for Secretary of State—Marco Rubio, the main senator in the bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok. Furthermore, the selection of anti-Tiktoker Mike Waltz as national security advisor also doesn't favor the app.
Trump's decision may also be influenced by his access to classified information, which he didn't have during the campaign—according to Bloomberg. As another argument against TikTok, the agency points out benefits for domestic Facebook, whose co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has returned to Donald Trump's favor.
Importantly, Donald Trump conducted an anti-China trade policy, which he intended to continue when he was inaugurated as president in January. According to Bloomberg, maintaining the TikTok ban would align with his firm stance against China. And most importantly, Bloomberg notes, Trump has already won the election, so he doesn't need TikTok to reach voters through it.
