Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Monday that he expects TikTok to be sold under President-elect Trump, as the president-elect has vowed to protect the app.
“Well, the law allowed for a 90-day delay to expedite the sale. What I hope and expect is to see that sale,” he said.
“The purpose of this law was not to ban TikTok. The purpose of this law was to end the Chinese Communist government's ownership and control,” he said. “And that’s what I’m hoping and hoping will be the case.”
The law, passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress, requires TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to exit the app by Sunday or face a ban. The move comes amid growing concerns about the app's ties to China, including the possibility that the Chinese government could access user data in the United States.
The Supreme Court on Friday found the law did not violate the First Amendment and applied the ban.
The Biden administration said it would leave enforcement to the incoming Trump administration. But TikTok said it would “go dark” ahead of the ban, claiming the White House had not provided necessary assurances to service providers that they would not be penalized for keeping the app available. did.
TikTok cut off access for American users late Saturday night. A little over 12 hours later, the app was back up and running. The platform thanked President Trump and said he planned to sign an executive order extending the app on Sunday.
“This is a strong stance against the First Amendment and arbitrary censorship,” TikTok said in a post on We will cooperate.”
