What we know about the TikTok ban
By Sunday afternoon, it was back. By noon on Sunday it was back. Trump promised early Sunday to delay the implementation of the new ban in order to give TikTok time to make a purchase that would satisfy the law. It’s still not clear how he’ll be able to do so.
What’s happening with TikTok this weekend?
TikTok feeds stopped working in the United States late on Saturday night. The app was showing a pop-up message instead of videos. It said that a law had been passed in the United States banning TikTok. It also added, “Please keep tuned!”
Then, around noon on Sunday the app started working again.
In agreement with its service providers, TikTok has begun the process of restoring the service. The company thanked President Trump for giving the assurance that our service providers would not be penalized for providing TikTok.
Can Donald J. Trump reverse this ban?
It’s not clear whether Mr. Trump is able to stall the ban in accordance with the law. However, he has promised to do so. Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, on Sunday, that he would be issuing an executive order Monday to “extend the time before the law’s prohibitions become effective, so that we can negotiate a deal to safeguard our national security.” “Without U.S. consent, there is no Tik Tok,” wrote Trump. Can he do that legally?
The law says that a president may extend the ban for a single 90-day period if they certify to Congress that “qualified divestiture is underway” and that it will take place within that time frame. It’s unclear if he will be able to exercise this option now that the new law is in effect. It would be a serious mistake to simply subvert it now. The law was passed with bipartisan support by Congress, signed by President Biden, and upheld by the Supreme Court. So to simply subvert it now will raise serious questions.
Sarah Kreps, the director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, said that Mr. Trump’s options now are “uncharted legal territory.”
What are the government’s concerns with TikTok?
U.S. ByteDance has been a source of concern for U.S. officials since its ties with the Chinese government. They’ve pointed out that ByteDance could hand over sensitive U.S. user data to Beijing, like location information, noting to laws that allow the Chinese government to secretly demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations.
They are also worried that China could use TikTok’s content recommendations to fuel misinformation, a concern that escalated in the United States after the start of the Israel-Hamas war and during the presidential election.
