TikTok's decision to shut down its app for just 12 hours, only to restore access to the Chinese-owned app following President-elect Donald Trump's intervention on Sunday, is a PR move meant to provoke a public backlash. Policy experts said it appears to have been an act. post.
“TikTok's early shutdown is either corporate incompetence or a deliberate PR stunt to foster a sense of panic,” said Joel Thayer, a D.C.-based technology lawyer and director of the Digital Progress Institute. speak “Given the inexplicability, I think it’s the latter.”
The popular video-sharing app was suspended for all U.S. users late Saturday night, but resumed service Sunday afternoon after President Trump vowed to “save” TikTok with an executive order on Monday. I started. The executive order delayed implementation of takeover laws that would require parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok. stake.
The company thanked Trump for “providing necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that no penalties will be imposed.”
But the Biden administration has already said it would not enforce the law, and President Trump previously suggested he opposed the ban and was “likely” to issue an executive order ahead of the government shutdown.
Thayer said the company's management has acted as a “sympathetic and dishonest intermediary” in its dealings with Congress and the public over the past several years.
“The truth is, even before Congress enacted this law, the United States had spent more than five years telling TikTok how to resolve blatant national security concerns, and the company did nothing. '' he added. “After trying to make false First Amendment claims to delay the law's implementation, and on the eve of its ban, the party wants to hold a condolence party.”
Under the Takeover Act, app store operators such as Google and Apple will be fined $5,000 per user if they allow new downloads of ByteDance-owned apps after the January 19 deadline. Service providers like Oracle and Akamai also have less responsibility for supporting the operation of apps.
As written, the law did not require people who had already downloaded TikTok on their phones to put it in dark mode, nor did it prohibit Americans from accessing the app. .
A representative for TikTok declined further comment, pointing to the company's previous statement.
As of 2:45 p.m. ET, a search for TikTok yielded no results on Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store, even after President Trump's statement. has shown that it is still unwilling to risk the hefty fines required by law.
Google declined to comment on the situation. A message on Apple's App Store said the company is “obligated to comply with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates.”
Representatives for Oracle and Akamai did not respond to requests for comment.
“This may be a game for TikTok, but it's not a game for Apple or Google,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Countering China's Great Game. “Regardless of TikTok's pranks, they need to abide by the law.”
“The law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court would require Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores if it is still owned and controlled by a foreign adversary. and it is happening,” Sobolik added.
President Trump said, “I would like the United States to have 50% ownership in the joint venture.''
“By doing this, we will save TikTok, maintain proper governance, and ensure TikTok has a voice.” [sic]” President Trump said. “Without U.S. approval, TikTok would not exist.”
TikTok said it would “work with President Trump on a long-term solution to keep TikTok in the United States.”
Despite President Trump's assurances, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has previously warned that the debt could reach $850 billion and warned service providers that they often ignore the law. I called on you to think.
“Companies that host, distribute, service, or otherwise promote the communist-controlled TikTok are facing hundreds of billions of dollars in ruinous damages under the Justice Department as well as securities laws, shareholder lawsuits, state legislatures, and other laws.” “Think about it,” Cotton wrote of X.
Cotton's fellow Republican, Sen. Pete Ricketts, previously said, “There is no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of the effective date.”
“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,” the senators said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, an ally of President Trump, also poured cold water on the idea that TikTok could be revived without complying with legal requirements to sell parent company ByteDance.
“I think we will enforce the law,” Johnson told NBC News.
President Biden previously referred to the threat of going dark on TikTok as a “stunt.”
Outgoing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week that “this was a stunt and there is no reason for TikTok or any other company to take action in the days leading up to the Trump administration's inauguration on Monday.”
Concerns that TikTok essentially functions as a spyware and propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party, facilitating everything from the collection of large amounts of data about Americans to the subtle manipulation of public opinion through its algorithms, prompted an overwhelming The Divestment Act was passed with bipartisan support.
TikTok denies any wrongdoing. The company has repeatedly said it will not sell even as the deadline approaches. Chinese government officials have vowed to prevent any forced sales.
The company unsuccessfully argued that the divestiture law violated the First Amendment. The nine justices of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against TikTok and ByteDance.
“Until TikTok is no longer controlled by the Chinese government, the national security threat that motivated the divestment law remains unaddressed,” said Evan Schwarztrauber, a senior fellow at the American Innovation Foundation.
As The Post reported, some so-called “TikTok refugees” flocked to Chinese-owned alternative service Red Note ahead of the ban, which experts have warned will further increase security risks. Despite that.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to attend President Trump's inauguration on Monday.
