On Sunday, incoming US President Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to delay the ban on TikTok as soon as he is sworn in on Monday.
Trump’s comments came after the app was recently shut down in the US before the US Supreme Court upheld a federal ban.
Trump: Companies ‘shouldn’t let TikTok remain in the dark’
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok remain dark,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Americans deserve to see our exciting inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations.”
In response to Trump’s comments, TikTok said it would restore service in the US, and thanked the President-elect for providing our service providers with the clarity and assurances they need to continue providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans. There will be no penalty for this. “7 million small businesses will thrive.”
Trump, who has called for similar sanctions in the past, also floated the idea of a US-China joint venture ownership deal but gave no details.
The president-elect reportedly said he would not oppose continued Chinese ownership of the app unless steps were taken to ensure that data used by American users is protected and stored in the US. , according to incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Waltz said Trump needed time to become familiar with the details and evaluate proposed buyers, hence the desire to delay.
Mixed messages from Washington as Trump prepares to take power
Although Waltz and Trump talked about “good conversations” with the Chinese leadership on the issue, House Speaker Mike Johnson struck a different tone, saying he thought the incoming president would, “try to force true divestment, “Will change hands, ownership.”
“That’s not the platform that members of Congress were concerned about,” Johnson said, “that’s the Chinese Communist Party.”
Speaking on Sunday, Waltz made clear that “every company in China has some connection to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Other Republicans, such as Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, have gone on record saying, “There is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of the effective date of this (ban).”
TikTok tells users ‘you cannot use the app’ because of the US government
Earlier on Sunday, TikTok stopped working for users in the United States and was unavailable on major app stores just before a federal law banning it in the country took effect.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US,” it said in a message to users attempting to use the app. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok right now.
App stores pulled the popular short-form video platform from the US market. It is no longer available on the Google App Store, Apple Store or TikTok.com.
The app shutdown in the US came after the company warned its users late Saturday that the app would soon become “temporarily unavailable” as a law banning it is about to come into effect in the country.
App stores may not allow the platform to remain available under federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a U.S. ban.
Even if short-term, the sanctions are expected to have a significant impact on US-China relations.
mfi/sms (AFP, Reuters)
