TikTok became available for US users again on Sunday after president-elect Donald Trump promised to sign an executive order to delay the ban on the platform. The TikTok app became unavailable for American users on Saturday in preparation for a law that took effect on January 19, the day before Trump was inaugurated as president at noon ET
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the social media platform wrote. Sunday of X. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face sanctions that provide TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allow more than 7 million small businesses that thrive.”
TikTok praised Trump in a warning posted Saturday night that users saw when they tried to open the app. And the social media app said in a statement on Sunday that the restoration of its service was a positive development for free speech.
“This is 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,” the ByteDance-owned company wrote.
President-elect Trump, a billionaire authoritarian who has promised to target his political enemies, announced Sunday morning that he will issue an executive order that will ensure TikTok can operate in the US while a agreement reached to know something long.
“I am asking companies not to allow TikTok to remain in the dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time before the law’s restrictions take effect, so we can come to an agreement to protect our national security .The order also confirms that there is no accountability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump wrote on Sunday morning on his social media platform. Social Truth.
Ironically, Trump signaled that his main concern about having TikTok available on Monday was that he wanted people to see him become president again.
“The American people deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” Trump continued.
But the most surprising element of Trump’s announcement involved his apparent plans for how to broker an agreement that would allow the app to continue operations in the U.S. The president-elect signaled that the federal government could ‘g will have some sort of stake ownership in the social media company, though details on how that would work were not provided.
“I want the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to speak. Without the permission of US, no Tik Tok (sic). With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions,” Trump wrote.
The billionaire clearly indicates how big this deal is as a sign that he should be praised and maybe should see some kind of benefit for himself.
“So, my first thought is a joint venture between the existing owners and/or new owners where the US would get 50% ownership of a joint venture set up between the US and any purchase we choose.”
Trump’s relationship with everyone has long been known to be a transaction, but it is not yet completely clear whether the future president will personally profit from the TikTok deal, as he has in many other areas of life.
Republican senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas is not necessarily happy with the way things are going with TikTok, releasing a statement praising companies like Apple and Google for removing the app from their store while saying there is no legal way to extend any timeline.
“We commend Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for complying with the law and stopping the operations of ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same. The law, in fact, risks bankruptcy for any company to violate it. Now that the law has gone into effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date,” Cotton said in a statement. published online.
But Cotton’s displeasure may not be so much now that Trump is back in office, because laws are only true if they are enforced. And the executive branch, housed in the US Department of Justice, will oversee the enforcement of TikTok’s “ban or divest” law.
“In order for TikTok to return online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the requirements of qualified divestiture law by cutting all ties between TikTok and Communist China,” Cotton continued. “Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok.”