Less than a day after the United States banned the popular social media app, President-elect Donald Trump talked about the possibility of delaying the deportation of TikTok. Photo via Getty Images hide title
President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would "probably" grant TikTok a 90-day ban from an upcoming ban once he takes office on Monday.
"I think that's certainly an option that we're looking at," Trump told NBC News. Meet the media With Kristen Welker.
But within TikTok, the short-term focus is on Sunday at 12:01 p.m. — when the legal ban will officially take effect. The bill would force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores and require TikTok's web hosting companies, including Oracle and Amazon Web Services, to cut ties with the app.
Failure to comply with the law comes with severe financial penalties: For companies supporting TikTok, fines can reach up to $5,000 per user, and given the size of the app's U.S. user base, fines could easily reach billions of dollars.
Late Friday, TikTok announced that it "will be forced to shut down" on Sunday unless the Biden administration guarantees it will not begin fining companies that support the app.
In response, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre derided the statement as a "gimmick," saying that the Biden administration believes that neither TikTok nor other companies that support TikTok need to take any action.
"We have made our position clear and direct: action to implement this law will be the responsibility of the next government. So TikTok and other companies should raise any concerns with them," Jean-Pierre said.
A TikTok spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday. It was unclear whether Jean-Pierre's assurances would be enough for TikTok to back away from its pledge earlier Sunday to shut down the service.
Regardless of the outcome, Sunday will mark the first time the U.S. has legislated a ban on domestic social media apps. Human rights advocates argue that this undermines the United States' ability to fight censorship and advocate for free speech on the global stage.
President Biden is betting on enforcement of the law, which would ban TikTok nationwide unless the service is spun off from its Chinese parent ByteDance, after signing it in April.
Congress sent the law to Biden with overwhelming bipartisan support, reflecting how TikTok's Chinese ownership has made the app a pariah in Washington. Lawmakers worry the Chinese Communist Party could use the app to spy on Americans or spread dangerous disinformation — even though TikTok’s critics have never cited concrete evidence that this is happening now.
TikTok challenged the law, saying it violated the free speech rights of millions of Americans, but lost in court. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the final legal ruling, upholding the law.
The law gives the president the option of a one-time 90-day suspension, but only if he can demonstrate "significant progress" on a potential sale or sever TikTok's ties to ByteDance.
Although many bidders have come forward claiming to be interested in acquiring TikTok, ByteDance's official position has long been that TikTok is not for sale. But Chinese experts say that could change given the pressure the ban puts on ByteDance.
During arguments in the Supreme Court, the justices asked whether it would be possible to extend the law for 90 days after it comes into effect.
"I think it raises a question of statutory interpretation," U.S. Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Preloga responded. "I'm not prepared to take a position on that."
NPR's Emma Bowman contributed to this report.