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A 3D-printed miniature model of US President-elect Donald Trump and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. — Reuters
#TikTok #restoring #service #Trump #clarity
On Sunday, TikTok said it was “in the process of restoring service” in the United States, after briefly going dark after a law banning it was enacted in the name of national security.
In a statement posted on X after Donald Trump promised to delay the ban, TikTok thanked the incoming president for providing the “necessary clarity and reassurance” that Americans are allowed to access the app. Service providers will not be penalized for giving.
TikTok stopped working for U.S. users late Saturday, before a law shutting it down on national security grounds went into effect on Sunday. US officials have warned that Chinese parent company ByteDance is at risk of misuse of Americans’ data.
Trump said he would “extend the period before the law’s prohibitions go into effect, so we can reach an agreement to protect our national security.”
“I would like the United States to take a 50% ownership position in a joint venture,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said the executive order would make clear that there would be no liability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from going dark before his order.
Trump previously said he would give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after taking office, a promise TikTok made in a notice posted to users on the app.
“Unfortunately, TikTok has been banned in the US, which means you can’t use TikTok right now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will restore TikTok once he takes office. Will work with us on a solution. Stay tuned,” a message informed TikTok users, which disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores late Saturday.
Even if temporary, TikTok’s unprecedented shutdown will have far-reaching implications for US-China relations, US politics, the social media marketplace and the millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.
Trump’s rescue of TikTok represents a reversal of stances from his first term in office. In 2020, it aimed to ban the short video app over concerns that the company was sharing Americans’ personal information with the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has said he has a “warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 election.
In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok but then blessed a deal that structured the two companies as a partnership rather than a division. It involved both Oracle and Walmart taking stakes in the new company.
Not everyone in Trump’s Republican Party is on board with his efforts to reach out to the law and “save TikTok.”
Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Pat Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the law has been enacted, there is no legal basis for any extension of its effective date. TikTok’s return online in the future Therefore, ByteDance must agree to a sale that meets the law’s eligibility requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”
The US has never banned any major social media platform. The law, overwhelmingly passed by Congress, gives the incoming Trump administration the power to ban or ban the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores by the end of the week.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Move on to the alternative.
Under a law passed last year and upheld by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, the platform has until Sunday to sever ties with its parents based in China or address national security concerns. It was time to shut down its US operations.
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to firmly protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesman said.
Uncertainty about the app’s future had sent users — mostly young people — flocking to alternatives, including China-based RedNote. go back Rivals Meta and Snap saw their share prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors focused on user traffic and advertising dollars. A bet has been made.
‘Hair on Fire’
According to Google Trends, web searches for “VPN” spiked within minutes of US users losing access to TikTok.
Users on Instagram are worried whether they will still receive the goods they bought on the video platform’s e-commerce arm TikTok Shop.
Marketing firms that rely on TikTok have rushed to develop contingency plans in what one executive described as “hair on fire” after months of conventional wisdom that a solution would emerge to keep the app running.
TikTok CEO Xu Zhiqiu plans to attend the US presidential inauguration on Sunday and attend a rally with Trump, a source told Reuters.
Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also discussed selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.
US search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid to merge ByteDance for Perplexity with TikTok US on Saturday, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters. Perplexity will merge with TikTok US and combine the merged company with other partners to form a new entity, the person added.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the United States.
