With the looming January 19 TikTok ban, President Joe Biden has decided not to enforce the shutdown of the Chinese app and is instead leaving the platform’s fate to President-elect Donald Trump.
RELATED: US Employees Guaranteed Jobs Despite Potential TikTok Ban
Although President Joe Biden’s Administration was the one to introduce a ban on TikTok — which is set to take effect on January 19, a day before he leaves office — Biden has now opted against enforcing it and will allow President-elect Donald Trump to make a decision on the fate of the Chinese-owned app.
As we’ve previously shared, last year, Congress required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest its shares in the company by January 19. The American government argues that the TikTok app is a national security threat as it is owned and operated under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party.
The law banning TikTok, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, prohibits Apple and Google’s app stores, as well as web-hosting platforms, from distributing or hosting TikTok in the United States, unless ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, sells its ownership in the app to a third party located in a country that is not deemed a “foreign adversary” of the United States.
RELATED: Donald Trump Urges Supreme Court To Delay TikTok Ban So He Can ‘Negotiate A Resolution To Save The Platform’
Thus far, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has been incessantly fighting against the ban and refusing to sell off its 40% stake in the app, likely relying on claims that President-elect Donald Trump will delay the ban and seek a better solution once he is inaugurated and takes office on January 20.
On January 10, the Supreme Court heard arguments after TikTok filed an emergency appeal to request a block of the January 19 ban. During the hearing, TikTok and ByteDance argued that the law created against them violates the United States First Amendment, affecting the nation’s 170 million users on their app. However, the Supreme Court Justices appear to be in favor of the U.S. government.
On January 16, it’s now been reported that President Joe Biden’s Administration will not be enforcing the January 19 ban of TikTok and will instead leave the fate of the Chinese app to President-elect Donald Trump. A White House official told ABC News, “Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before the inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.”
RELATED: TikTok Denies Report Claiming China Is Considering Selling App To Elon Musk, Says It’s ‘Pure Fiction’
Despite the move by President Joe Biden’s Administration, TikTok could still voluntarily choose to shut itself down on January 19. Currently, the law requires ByteDance to shut down access to TikTok in America. The law also empowers the Justice Department to pursue fines of up to $5,000 per user should TikTok remain accessible in the United States past the ban date.
Furthermore, if Joe Biden and Donald Trump both opt against enforcing the ban, tech companies will still be liable for fines and other consequences so long as TikTok is still running and owned by ByteDance.
Additionally, the law allows the president to grant a one-time extension delaying the ban for up to 90 days under three very specific conditions: TikTok must show it’s on a “path to executing” a divesture from its Chinese owner; there must be “evidence of significant progress” toward a sale; and that progress must be sealed with “relevant binding legal agreements.”
RELATED: ‘Shark Tank’ Host Kevin O’Leary Joins Billionaire Frank McCourt In Bid To Save TikTok From U.S. Ban, Says He’s Near Deal To Buy Platform
#Socialites, be sure to check out the post below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after!
