The clock is ticking, but President-elect Donald Trump promises to “save” Chinese video-sharing app TikTok — and hawks in his own party won't give the site an easy reprieve. This is despite the fact that it is said that it cannot be given.
“Save TikTok,” Trump, 78, says. written in all capital letters on his Truth Social platform.
Hours earlier, TikTok notified users that the platform was offline, then tweaked its message to praise the president-elect's accomplishments and say, “President Trump is willing to work with us on solutions.'' I'm lucky that he gave it to me.”
TikTok's parent company ByteDance had nine months (January 19 deadline) to sell the platform's U.S. operations or face a ban.
The ban passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate in April and was later signed into law by President Biden.
playing cards told NBC News It is said that it is considering a plan to extend the use of TikTok for 90 days.
“I think that's certainly an option that we'll consider. A 90-day extension will probably happen because it's appropriate. Yeah, that's appropriate. We'll have to look at it carefully. It's a very big situation,'' President Trump told the media.
But leading China hawks in Congress are unhappy with the TikTok ban and say it cannot be extended.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) said, “Now that the law is in effect, there is no legal basis for any 'extension' of the effective date. No,” he said. — has publicly questioned whether TikTok can make a comeback in the United States.
“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. Only then can the U.S. People will be protected from the grave threat to their privacy and security posed by communist-controlled TikTok.”
TikTok, which claims a user base of more than 170 million people in the United States, has long raised national security concerns.
Lawmakers and experts have expressed concern that TikTik is giving China access to a vast cache of Americans' biometric identifiers, location data, and browsing data.
There are also growing concerns that TikTok could be used as a propaganda tool against the United States.
During the first Trump administration, he will soon become the 47th president. took enforcement action The case against TikTok was later thrown out in court. But between the two administrations, President Trump had a change of heart.
Republican megadonor and billionaire Jeff Yass, who invested in TikTok; According to reports Trump pushed behind the scenes to protect TikTok.
TikTok CEO Hsu Chu is scheduled to attend President Trump's inauguration on Monday.
Trump joined TikTok during the 2024 campaign and believes it helped him perform better among younger voters.
Trump also claimed that taking TikTok off the map could be a big boost for Mehta's previously banned Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The president-elect argued that saving TikTok is important to free market competition.
