Trump set to delay TikTok ban, seeks U.S. share in app
Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as the President of the USA on Monday, January 20, has already announced his first decision, which will pertain to TikTok. He declared that he will sign an order on Monday to suspend the law concerning the app. He also appealed to internet companies.
TikTok, a very popular app among millions of young Americans, stopped working in the United States just before midnight Eastern Time. It also disappeared from Google and Apple app stores. The app's owner issued a statement expressing hope that Donald Trump will not allow it to be banned from the American market.
On Sunday in the USA, a law came into effect, stating that the condition for TikTok's continued operation in the American market is its sale to an entity outside of China. One provision states that the president can extend the law's implementation for 90 days, but there are doubts about whether this can happen after the law has already taken effect.
The Joe Biden administration pushed for a ban on TikTok if its American branch is not sold by the Chinese, due to concerns over user data security, which is transmitted to China. Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum in the USA believe that Americans' data could be used by the Chinese for espionage activities and to manipulate discourse in the United States.
The new law was passed in 2024 with votes from a decisive majority of congresspeople from both parties.
TikTok unavailable in the USA. Trump reacts
It is worth noting that in 2020, Trump himself openly supported the ban on TikTok. However, this year he changed his mind. On Sunday, he appealed to internet companies to allow the app to operate again. He announced that he will sign an order suspending the law regarding TikTok on Monday. He also stated that he wants the USA to own 50% of the shares in the company.
I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security, wrote the President-elect of the USA on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He stated that he knows how to "save" TikTok. "I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions," he wrote. He clarified that he means a joint venture with the current or new owner of the app, "whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."
