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TikTok became available to users in the United States again on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump promised to sign an executive order that would delay the platform’s ban. The TikTok app became unavailable to US users late Saturday in preparation for a law that took effect on January 19, the day before Trump was inaugurated as president at noon ET.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring the service,” wrote the social network platform. Sunday X. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face any penalties for providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
TikTok praised Trump in a warning posted Saturday night that users saw when they tried to open the app. And the social media app said in a statement on Sunday that the restoration of its service was a positive development for free speech.
“He has a strong position for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that will keep TikTok in the United States,” wrote the company of ByteDance.
President-elect Trump, an authoritarian billionaire who has vowed to target his political enemies, announced Sunday morning that he will issue an executive order that will ensure TikTok can operate in the United States while an agreement is reached to figure something out in the long term.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay in the dark! Issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time period before the law’s bans go into effect, so we can make an agreement to protect our national security. L ‘order also confirms that there will be no liability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from going dark before my order,’ wrote Trump on Sunday morning on his social network platform. Social truth.
Bizarrely, Trump indicated that his primary concern for having TikTok available on Monday was that he wanted people to be able to see him become president again.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” Trump continued.
But the strangest element of Trump’s announcement involved his apparent plans for how he would structure a deal that would allow the app to continue operations in the United States. although details on how it might work have not been provided.
“I want 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 us to say. Without the approval of the United States, there is no Tik Tok ( sic).With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe trillions,” Trump wrote.
The billionaire clearly hints at how lucrative this deal could be, a sign that he should be praised and perhaps he should see a benefit for himself.
“Therefore, my initial thinking is a joint venture between the current owner and/or new owners with the United States obtaining 50% ownership in a joint venture created between the United States and any purchase we choose.”
Trump’s relationship with everyone has long been known to be transactional, but it is not entirely clear whether the incoming president will personally benefit from the TikTok deal, as he has done in many other areas of life.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas was not necessarily happy with the way things were going with TikTok, releasing a statement praising companies like Apple and Google for removing the app from their stores, saying that there is no legal way to be extended.
“We praise Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for following the law and ceasing operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same. The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company that violates it. Now that the law has entered into force, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date,” Cotton said in a statement. published online.
But Cotton’s displeasure may not be much now that Trump is back in office, since laws are only real if they are enforced. And the executive branch, which houses the US Department of Justice, would be in charge of enforcing TikTok’s “ban or divestment” law.
“In order for TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that meets the law’s qualified divestment requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China,” Cotton continued. “Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok.”
