From the first concerns raised by President Donald Trump to a law demanding the video sharing platform sell off its US wing or face a ban passed under President Biden the process of getting TikTok banned took five years. The ban, which came into effect on Saturday, lasted 14 hours.
President-elect Trump, who will be inaugurated at a ceremony in Washington DC today, posted on Truth that he is signing an executive order restoring the service.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
The ban on TikTok came following the failure of an appeal to the Supreme Court, which agreed it posed a threat to national security by exposing the data of US users to a foreign power – specifically China. TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which has maintained it has no ties to government and that user data is safe and securely kept.
Enforcing the ban, however, falls to the incoming Trump Administration. A statement from the Whitehouse on 17 January said: “The Administration, like the rest of the country, has awaited the decision just made by the US Supreme Court on the TikTok matter.
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: 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.
“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognises that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
Trump’s refusal to enforce the ban will be seen as good news to Big Tech. Alongside TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew today’s ceremony will be atended by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg whose own social networks have come in for criticism over poor standards in fact checking and content moderation, and fomenting a mistrust of mainstream media. Trump hmself has an account on TikTok with 14.9 million subscribers, though he hasn’t posted since election day, 11 November.
On Saturday TikTokers vented their frustration on X (formerly Twitter) with the hashtag #theyhitthepentagon – a reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Centre and damaged the headquarters of the Department of Defence in 2001. The principal beneficiary was another Chinese service, Rednote, which Americans downloaded 1,137,241 in the week leading up to the ban. Whther those downloads will translate into regular users remains to be seen.
In the meantime, a statement from TikTok applauding Trump’s decision read: “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. 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.”
Users shouldn’t consider Trump’s decision a total win. Trump’s post concluded: “I would like to see the United States get a 50% stake in a joint venture. Then we will keep it in good hands.”
