President-elect Donald Trump is expected to give TikTok more time to strike a deal after returning to power on Monday, as China has signaled it is open to a deal to keep TikTok in the U.S. market. has been done.
The move comes hours before a law goes into effect Sunday that says the short video service used by 170 million Americans must be sold by Chinese owner ByteDance for national security reasons. It went temporarily offline for U.S. users on Saturday.
U.S. officials have said there is a risk that Americans' data could be misused under ByteDance.
TikTok restored access on Sunday and thanked President Trump for assuring TikTok and its business partners that it would not face steep fines to keep the app running.
Although the app and website were up and running on Monday, TikTok is still not available for download in Apple and Google's app stores, suggesting the companies are awaiting clearer legal guarantees.
“Frankly, we don't have a choice. We have to save it,” President Trump said at a rally Sunday ahead of Inauguration Day, adding that the U.S. It added that it will explore joint ventures to restore the app.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended a service with Trump at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington on Monday. Chu was joined by several Big Tech chief executives, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. did.
President Trump previously said he would issue an executive order granting TikTok a reprieve from the ban after taking office, and TikTok cited this promise in a notice posted to users on the app.
This comes after China indicated for the first time that it was open to a deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.
In response to a question about the app's revival and President Trump's desire for a deal, China's Foreign Ministry said at a regular press conference on Monday that it believes companies should “independently decide” on business operations and transactions. Ta.
“TikTok has been operating in the United States for many years and is deeply loved by American users,” said Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson.
“We hope that the United States will listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just, and nondiscriminatory business environment for companies doing business in the United States.”
The debate over TikTok comes at a time of tense relations between the United States and China.
President Trump has indicated he intends to impose tariffs on China, but he has also expressed a desire for more direct contact with China's leaders.
Trump's saving of TikTok marks a shift in attitude from his first term in office. In 2020, the company sought to ban the app over concerns that it was sharing Americans' personal information with the Chinese government.
President Trump recently said he has a “warm spot for TikTok” and credited the app with helping him reach young voters in the 2024 presidential election.
In August 2020, President Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok, but it was subsequently structured as a partnership rather than an acquisition in which both Oracle and Walmart would acquire equity in the new company. Congratulations on the transaction.
Not all of President Trump's Republicans agreed with his efforts to circumvent the law and “save TikTok.”
Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the law is in effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of the effective date. In order for TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must sever all ties between TikTok and Communist China and comply with the legal requirements.” You must agree to a sale that meets the sale requirements.”
The United States has never banned any major social media platform.
The law, passed overwhelmingly by Congress, gives the incoming Trump administration broad powers to ban or require the sale of other Chinese companies' apps.
