President Trump's plan to save TikTok is at a crossroads with some Republicans amid growing questions over the legality of delaying a ban on the popular video-sharing app.
President Trump said over the weekend that he plans to issue an executive order extending a ban on TikTok that went into effect on Sunday after its Chinese parent company ByteDance failed to pull the app.
Former President Biden said he would not enforce the ban in his final days in the White House, but the app remained shut down for more than 12 hours starting Saturday night, after President Trump announced plans to delay the ban. , returned online on Sunday.
Some China hawks in Congress have already broken with the new president on the issue, saying the app should not be available in the U.S. unless a formal sale deal is on the table. We firmly maintain this position.
“We want Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft to comply with the law and shut down ByteDance and TikTok,” said Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Ark.). We commend this and encourage other companies to take similar steps.” Nebraska) said in a statement on Sunday. “Ultimately, this law risks catastrophic bankruptcy for companies that violate it.”
If enacted, the law would impose hefty fines on app store providers such as Apple and Google, as well as cloud computing company Oracle, which provides internet hosting services to TikTok. The companies could be fined about $850 billion for continuing to make their apps available to Americans.
Cotton also suggested that companies providing services to TikTok could face “catastrophic liability” from entities other than the Justice Department, such as state attorneys general and shareholders.
“For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must sever all ties between TikTok and Communist China and agree to a sale that meets the law's qualified sale requirements,” Cotton and Ricketts added. Ta.
President Trump's change in plans for TikTok marks the earliest disagreement between the president and party members on a highly polarizing issue. During the president's first term, he sometimes clashed with defectors from the Republican Party, both in public and online.
The Divestment Act passed Congress last April with broad bipartisan support, highlighting concerns on both sides about China's growing power.
Because TikTok's parent company is based in Beijing, the U.S. government is wary that the Chinese government could access U.S. user data or secretly manipulate content on the platform. There is.
Cotton made headlines last year when he aggressively pressed TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during a Senate hearing. Mr Chew reiterated that he is a Singaporean and has never belonged to the Chinese Communist Party.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, RN.D., also questioned the legality of an executive order Monday that could delay the ban.
According to a post in the newspaper, Kramer told CNN's Manu Raju, “What is the legal authority for the president to issue executive orders, leading up to the law just passed and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court? I don't know,” he said. Social Platform X.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected TikTok's challenge to the law, ruling that TikTok did not violate the First Amendment.
“I have been concerned about the appropriate approach to separation of powers by all presidents,” Cramer added.
The law gives ByteDance 270 days, until January 19, to withdraw from TikTok. However, the president was also allowed to issue a 90-day extension if the company was making progress toward a sale.
It remains unclear whether President Trump's executive order seeks to take advantage of this provision.
“The statute itself allows him to stay.” [the ban] Or give an extension. And if he's working within that scope, then certainly as long as it's within that scope, it's legal,” said Shubha Ghosh, a law professor at Syracuse University.
To grant a 90-day extension under the law, the president must certify to Congress that a path to a qualified sale has been identified and that there is evidence of “significant progress” toward such a sale.
President Trump has said he wants the U.S. to own a 50% stake in TikTok in a joint venture, but it remains to be seen whether this proposal would meet the requirements of qualified sale laws.
According to the law, any sale would have to remove China's control over the app and would not preserve the relationship between TikTok's U.S. operations and ByteDance.
But Lily Lee, a cybersecurity and data privacy lawyer, said the president has significant discretion to make these decisions.
“The president will take a lot of action on China and tariffs, and this could be used as a bargaining chip in those discussions,” Lee said.
Rep. John Moolener (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said Monday that the law's divestment requirements are “clear and unambiguous,” but he will leave that decision to the next president. said.
He touted Trump as “the right person to seal the deal of the century and create a safer TikTok,” adding, “It's time for ByteDance to come to the table. If that's the case, President Trump will do it. I'm sure he will,” he added. Ensure TikTok is sold to a company Americans can trust. ”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) also appeared to support the ban on Sunday, rejecting the idea that President Trump would try to overturn it without a “true sale, transfer, or ownership.” Set aside.
Meanwhile, some Republicans, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a close ally of President Trump, appear relieved by the 90-day extension.
Still, the Ohio Republican said the law would need to be changed to keep TikTok online for less than a full sale.
“If someone else is going to buy TikTok and do something contrary to ByteDance no longer owning TikTok, it seems to me that the law needs to be changed,” Jordan told CNN on Sunday. He spoke at the State House. It's a federation. ”
“And if it's warranted, I think Congress will consider it under President Trump's leadership,” he added.
