President Donald Trump took action Monday to keep TikTok running in the US. By law, the app was banned, starting Sunday, and TikTok went offline temporarily. Now Mr. Trump says he’s given the company 75 days to find a new owner. It’s not clear that Mr. Trump has the power to change the law.
TikTok is a hugely popular social media app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok allows users to create and share short videos.
The app has raised concerns because it is owned by a Chinese company. Many groups worry that the Chinese government could use the app to gather information on millions of American TikTok users. Chinese companies are required to work with the Chinese government when asked.
(Source: Nordskov Media, via Flickr.com.)
There are also worries that TikTok is trying to shape the opinions of its users by controlling the information they are shown. Studies have shown that positive stories about China are spread widely on TikTok, while TikTok limits the spread of negative stories about China. TikTok says the studies weren’t fair.
As president in 2020, Mr. Trump ordered that TikTok be sold to an American company or be shut down. But that never happened.
In April, 2024, Congress passed a law banning all of ByteDance’s apps and websites in the US, including TikTok, unless the company was sold to a non-Chinese owner. TikTok took the case to court several times. But last Friday, the US Supreme Court said that the law banning TikTok was legal.
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In April, 2024, Congress passed a law banning all of ByteDance’s apps and websites in the US. Last Friday, the US Supreme Court said that the law banning TikTok was legal. By late Saturday night, TikTok’s app and website stopped working in the US (above).
By late Saturday night, TikTok’s app and website stopped working in the US. TikTok and other ByteDance apps could not be downloaded from Apple or Google.
But on Sunday morning, Mr. Trump, who wasn’t yet president, announced that he planned to delay the TikTok ban. He encouraged companies to keep TikTok going. Mr. Trump suggested that the “United States” might own half of TikTok and some other owner might buy the other half.
By Sunday afternoon, TikTok’s app and website were running again, even though it was officially still banned. The law says that companies that help TikTok run in spite of the ban can be fined up to $5,000 for every TikTok user. Since TikTok has roughly 170 million users in the US, such a fine could cost up to $850 billion.
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Yesterday Mr. Trump officially ordered the Department of Justice not to enforce the new law for 75 days. Mr. Trump says he has a “warm spot” for TikTok because it helped him connect with young voters in the last election. Above, Mr. Trump speaks to reporters about TikTok as he signs orders at the White House yesterday.
Yesterday, after his inauguration, Mr. Trump officially ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) not to enforce the new law for 75 days. His order also told the DOJ not to fine any companies that have helped TikTok stay online.
Mr. Trump’s current position is a big change from his attempt to ban it several years ago. Mr. Trump says he has a “warm spot” for TikTok now because it helped him connect with young voters in the last election.
Experts say it’s not clear that Mr. Trump’s order is legal. They say the only way Mr. Trump can legally delay the ban is by telling Congress there has been real progress toward ByteDance being sold. So far, that hasn’t happened.
It’s likely that these questions will wind up being decided in court.
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Different companies are reacting to the current situation in different ways. Some companies are working to keep TikTok running, trusting Mr. Trump to protect them. Other companies, like Apple and Google, still have not returned ByteDance apps to their app stores. They may be concerned about having to pay huge fines.