TikTok resumes service in US after Trump promises

TikTok is restoring service to its 170 million U.S. users after President-elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to suspend the service after taking office on Monday.

The Chinese-owned app stopped serving U.S. users on Saturday night after a law took effect that banned the app on national security grounds.

Trump, who has previously supported banning the platform, pledged on Sunday to delay implementation of the law and allow more time for a deal to be reached. TikTok later said it was “restoring services.”

Soon after, the app started working again, with a message popping up to millions of users thanking Trump by name. In a statement, the company thanked the incoming president for “providing needed clarity and reassurance” and said it would work with Trump “to develop long-term solutions that keep TikTok in the United States.”

TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday.

Posting on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns, Trump said on Sunday: “I'm asking businesses not to let TikTok go into the dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time the legal ban is in effect so that we can reach an agreement to protect our national security.”

TikTok parent ByteDance has previously ignored a law requiring it to sell its U.S. operations to avoid a ban. law The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday and took effect on Sunday..

It's unclear what legal authority Trump would have to delay implementation of a law that's already in effect. But his administration is not expected to enforce the ban if he issues an executive order.

This was a U-turn from his previous stance. trump card Support TikTok banbut recently claimed that the app was a “hot spot” and boasted that his videos attracted billions of views on the platform during last year's presidential campaign.

For its part, President Joe Biden's administration has said it will not enforce the law in his final hours in office, instead allowing the process to proceed under the incoming Trump administration.

But TikTok shut down service on Saturday night anyway, then quickly restored access on Sunday.

This short video platform is popular among millions of American users. It has also proven to be a valuable tool for US political campaigns to engage younger voters.

Under the law passed last April, the U.S. version of the app must be removed from app stores and web hosting services if the app's Chinese owner ByteDance does not sell its U.S. operations.

TikTok argued in the Supreme Court that the law violated free speech protections for users in the country.

The law passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and was unanimously backed by Supreme Court justices earlier this week.

The issue exposed divisions between the president-elect and members of his own party on key national security issues. His pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, publicly supports the ban.

“TikTok extends the power and influence of the Chinese Communist Party into our own country, right under our noses,” he said last April. But when a reporter asked him if he supported Trump’s efforts to reinstate the ban, he said Seems to be listening to the president-elect.

“If I'm confirmed as secretary of state, I will work for the president,” he told Punchbowl last week.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, parted ways with Trump after Trump intervened Sunday morning, saying any company that helped TikTok stay online would be breaking the law.

“Under the law, any company that hosts, distributes, services or otherwise facilitates Communist Party-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars in devastating liability, not only from the Department of Justice but also under securities laws, shareholder lawsuits and state attorneys general ,” he wrote on social media.

Executive orders that violate the law can be litigated in court.

Several states have also sued the platform, which could result in TikTok being banned by local jurisdictions even if it becomes available nationwide.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said that although the platform went live again for existing users on Sunday, the question of whether third parties (hosting platforms or app stores such as Google or Apple) can support TikTok in the United States remains unclear. clear. The app has been removed from these stores in anticipation of the ban.

“It's a blur,” he told the BBC.

In a post on Truth Media, Trump promised to shield the company from liability, opening the door for TikTok to be used again on Apple and Google.

“This order will also confirm that any company that helped prevent TikTok from shutting down prior to my order will not be held liable,” the president-elect said on Truth Social Sunday.

But during a Supreme Court hearing, Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloga insisted that executive orders cannot retroactively change the law.

“No matter what the new president does, it will not change the reality for these companies,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said during the hearing.

“That's right,” Preloga said.

Professor Tobias said the law does include a provision that allows the president to delay a ban for up to 90 days if he can prove the company has made substantial progress in mitigating national security concerns. But he said it was unclear whether those conditions had been met.

“The best thing Trump can do is work with Congress without potentially violating the law or leaving any questions unanswered,” he said.

“I don’t know that we’re going to know much more until we see this executive order.”