President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, providing relief to the social media platform's users amid ongoing national security concerns. The order grants TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, additional time to find a U.S. buyer to avoid a potential ban set for Jan. 19.
Trump's decision to extend the deadline comes after TikTok faced a temporary outage over the weekend, following the approval of a ban by Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. The platform was restored for existing users after Trump promised to pause the ban.
The law that Congress passed, signed by former President Joe Biden in April, raised national security concerns and mandated TikTok's sale unless ByteDance divested it to an approved buyer. The law allows for fines against major mobile app stores and internet hosting services if they continue to distribute TikTok to U.S. users beyond the divestment deadline.
Trump's executive order instructs the U.S. attorney general not to enforce the TikTok ban for 75 days, aiming to protect national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of the platform. The move may face legal scrutiny but buys time for TikTok to navigate the situation.
Despite ByteDance's initial reluctance to sell TikTok, Beijing signaled a potential willingness to allow the platform's divestment from its Chinese parent company. Trump expressed interest in having the U.S. government broker a deal for 50% control of TikTok, emphasizing the importance of a U.S. buyer.
Various legal obstacles and potential enforcement challenges surround the TikTok situation, with legislators and private entities monitoring the developments closely. Companies like Oracle and Akamai Technologies are crucial in keeping TikTok's servers operational, while Apple and Google have paused new downloads of the app in compliance with U.S. legal requirements.
