National Telescope national telescope newspaper
US President Joe Biden has decided not to enforce the TikTok ban, which is scheduled to take effect on January 19, the day before he leaves office and his Republican successor, Donald Trump, is sworn in.
A US official confirmed that Biden’s administration will leave the decision on TikTok’s fate to Trump, who will take over as president after winning the November election.
The law, signed by Biden last year, mandates that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, based in China, must divest from the app on national security grounds or face a ban in one of its largest markets.
While Biden’s administration has refrained from taking action, the decision now rests with Trump, who has expressed his intention to keep TikTok accessible in the US, although his transition team has not provided details on how this would be achieved.
During his first term as president, Trump had sought to ban the app, but he later changed his stance, joining TikTok in 2024 and praising the platform for helping him gain youth support during his campaign.
Efforts to save TikTok have gained bipartisan support. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer recently spoke with Biden, urging for an extension of the ban deadline.
Schumer highlighted that more time is needed to find an American buyer for TikTok and to avoid disrupting the lives of millions of American users, particularly influencers who have built substantial followings on the platform.
“It’s clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, especially the influencers who have built a strong network of followers,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
However, a proposal to extend the deadline was blocked by Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who is also the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Cotton argued that TikTok has had enough time to find a buyer, calling it a “Chinese Communist spy app” that poses a threat to American children by harvesting data and spreading harmful content.
The matter has now reached the Supreme Court, which last week heard arguments in a legal challenge brought by TikTok, ByteDance, and its users. Based on the proceedings, it seems likely that the court will uphold the law signed by President Biden.
(SkyNews)
