President-elect Donald Trump rode to TikTok’s rescue on Sunday, working on the eve of his new presidency to try to undo a ban effort that he helped initiate during his first term.
The Wall Street Journal reports the popular social-media app started restoring service on Sunday for its 170 million U.S. users just over 14 hours after halting it in response to a bipartisan national-security law requiring TikTok to shed its Chinese ownership or shut down in the U.S.
The restoration of service came after Trump, who as been indicating for weeks that he wanted to help the app, said Sunday he would issue an executive order on Monday to reinstate the service in the U.S. and that he wants the country to have an ownership position in the app.
“Welcome back!” read a message the TikTok app showed users Sunday. “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” The company separately said Trump had provided the assurance needed for TikTok and its partners to restore service. It said TikTok would work with the incoming president on a long-term solution to the law’s requirements.
The weekend’s frenetic moves capped a yearslong saga that has seen a complete change in the president-elect’s position. While legal challenges could still complicate Trump’s plan, his move sets him up to potentially play the hero to the Chinese-owned app that he once said is a national-security threat—as well as to its wealthy U.S. investors, its largely young base of users, and the millions of American businesses and social-media entrepreneurs who use TikTok to connect with customers and fans.
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| Shou Chew |
The law, signed by President Biden in April after passing with strong Republican support in Congress, required divestment of Chinese ownership in TikTok because of concerns that China’s government could use the app to surveil or propagandize American users. The law took effect Sunday after TikTok failed to present any such deal for consideration, and after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected its claims that the law is unconstitutional.
The Biden White House had offered repeated public assurances that it wouldn’t take any action to enforce the law on his last day in office. But TikTok said those weren’t sufficient to ensure legal protection, including for partners such as Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s American service in its data centers.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday morning on his own platform, Truth Social. He said his executive order would pave the way for a deal that he said would protect national security.
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