USA: TikTok restores service after U.S. Supreme Court Ban; Trump to issue executing order to delay enforcement
"TikTok says it is restoring service in US after Trump vowed to delay ban", 19 January 2025.
TikTok said on Sunday that it was restoring services in the US after Donald Trump pledged earlier in the day to give the video app a reprieve on its US ban.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that after taking office on Monday he would sign an executive order allowing the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50% ownership stake....
TikTok stopped working in the US for 170 million users late on Saturday.
Congress passed a law in April ordering TikTok, which is currently owned by ByteDance, to either sell to a non-Chinese owner or face being removed from the US, with the app choosing to shut itself down after the US supreme court ruled to uphold the ban on Friday. Under the law, companies would be blocked from distributing, maintaining or updating the app – for instance, in effect banning it from app stores – if TikTok failed to secure a sale...
From Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, a pop-up message to the app’s US users read: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”..
The company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, released a video thanking Trump for his efforts to keep the app active in the US. He is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony in person.
After Trump’s message on Sunday, the company said in a statement that it was “in the process of restoring service”, adding: “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Some Tiktok users reported the app was fully functional once again shortly after the announcement.
The incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, also told CNN on Sunday that Trump hasn’t ruled out continued Chinese ownership, with “firewalls to make sure that the data is protected here on US soil”.
He also said on CBS News on Sunday that Trump said he is working to “save” TikTok and needs time to sort out issues related to the firm and to evaluate potential buyers...
Concerns around TikTok centre on the possibility of the Chinese state accessing the personal data generated by the app’s US users or manipulating the app’s powerful algorithm to dictate what users see. Chew has denied Chinese state involvement in the app, saying in 2023 ByteDance is not “an agent of China or any other country”....