TikTok is restoring service to the US after Trump promised a delay
Like Lazarus, TikTok has risen from the dead. ONE ban social media apps used by more than 170 million Americans has been blocked, at least for now, by the company announced in a midday tweet on Sunday. This news appeared after the President was elected Donald Trump announced he would use an executive order to extend the deadline for an American entity to hold at least a majority stake in the application.
This application is the theme bipartisan legislation called the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, a federal move that would make it illegal for service providers to allow its use in the United States unless the company Chinese mother ByteDance sold the app to government-approved buyers.
Supporters of the ban, including Congress and the President Joe Bidenargue that the video-sharing app threatens national security, while TikTok supporters argue that banning the app violates First Amendment rights to free speech. Biden’s ban was signed into law in Aprilfollows a similar effort by then-president Trump, who also tried to ban the platform through executive action in 2020 in federal court blocked his attempt.
Like Trump’s previous ban attempt, ByteDance has challenged the existing law, citing First Amendment concerns. In a separate brief to the Supreme Court, users of the service acknowledged ongoing geopolitical tensions between China and the United States, but argued that allowing the law to take effect would mean with “suppressing American speech” and “crushing the face of our history, traditions and precedents.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 28: In this photo illustration, the TikTok logo is displayed on an iPhone on February 28, 2023 in London, England. This week, the US government and the European Union parliament announced a ban on the installation of the popular social media app on employee devices. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The Biden administration also wrote a brief to the Supreme Court, saying the law “addresses the serious threats to national security posed by the Chinese government’s control of TikTok, a The platform collects sensitive data on tens of millions of Americans and would be a powerful attack tool. tools for covert influence operations by foreign adversaries.”
Since 2020, Trump has significantly changed his stance on TikTok. In March, he reversed course and confirmed that he no longer supports a ban because it would “make Facebook bigger and I consider Facebook an enemy of the people.”
“There are a lot of people on TikTok who love it,” Trump said at the time. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who would go crazy without it.”
That new perspective was reflected after his election, Trump called America Supreme Court delays discussions in the forbidden challenge. They didn’t and rules Friday that blocking TikTok is constitutional. In response, Biden administration said it will not enforce the ban and will leave that to Trump. In a statement issued by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the Administration said: “Given the sheer reality of the times, this Administration recognizes that simple law enforcement actions must fall under on the next Administration, which will take office on Monday.”
Ninety minutes ago its closing period at midnight Saturday, the app went dark, replaced by a message that read: “Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable. A law banning TikTok has been issued in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok at this time.”
