TikTok WAS OFFICIALLY BANNED SUNDAY MORNING, BUT DID TRUMP SAVE IT? HERE’S WHERE THINGS STAND.
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GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–The popular social media app TikTok went dark for its 170 million American users on Jan. 19, after months of fighting the federal government’s demand that it separate from its China-based parent company, ByteDance.
In the hours before midnight struck on the East Coast, users experienced pop-ups while watching videos on the app, warning them that “a U.S. law banning Tiktok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.”
Hours later, users could not scroll, watch or post videos and received messages stating that “TikTok isn’t available right now” but that the app is “fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
By Sunday afternoon, however, many users were able to access TikTok videos again without receiving any pop-up warnings or having to use hacks to circumvent the ban, such as downloading a virtual private network (VPN) to make it seem as if they were operating in countries outside the United States where TikTok is still available.
“As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” a new pop-up declared on the platform as of Sunday afternoon.
TikTok issued a statement on X saying that it was “in the process of restoring service” and thanked Trump, who will be officially sworn in as president on Monday, for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers” for the app to continue operating in the U.S.
“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,” TikTok’s statement concluded.
Hours before TikTok appeared to restore service to its U.S. users, Trump made his own statement about the TikTok ban on Truth Social, saying that he would be issuing an executive order on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect.” According to his post, Trump said he wants “the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” in order to “save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up.”
What happened this past week
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok unless ByteDance sells it. Justices heard arguments last week from TikTok and ByteDance, which argued that the ban is a violation of First Amendment rights. The court disagreed.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the issues surrounding TikTok are now the Trump administration’s responsibility.
“TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” she said in a statement. “Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability,” TikTok said in a statement shared with Yahoo News on Friday. “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”
Trump said the Supreme Court’s decision was “expected,” and added that he’ll be making a decision on the fate of TikTok “in the not too distant future.”
The day after the ban is scheduled to take place, Trump will be sworn into his second term of office — with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng expected to be in attendance — and has reportedly considered issuing an executive order that would halt the TikTok ban for up to 90 days.
Chew thanked Trump in a TikTok video posted Friday afternoon and called Trump’s “commitment” to keeping the app in the U.S. “a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”
Trump also shared on Truth Social on Friday that he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok.
Why is TikTok being banned?
The federal government has argued that because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, the platform is a potential threat to national security. Therefore, TikTok could stay active in the U.S. if it separated from ByteDance and was sold to a U.S.-based company. ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok.
Culled from Yahoo News
