President-elect Donald Trump has said he is “most likely” to give TikTok a 90-day reprieve over a ban in the United States that will come into effect on Sunday should the video-sharing app’s Chinese owner ByteDance fail to sell to a non-Chinese buyer.
Trump told NBC’s Meet The Press on Saturday that he was looking at the situation and would “probably” announce his decision on Monday, the day of his presidential inauguration.
TikTok said on Friday it would be forced to “go dark” on Sunday unless the government gave reassurances that companies like Apple and Google would not be punished for delivering the app in the United States, where it has more than 170million users.
It statement came hours after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a ban law passed last year with cross-party Congressional approval and the support of the Department of Justice, over fears that TikTok presents a national security risk when it is downloaded onto US phones.
An excerpt from the Court’s ruling read, “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community.
“But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
There is concern among US lawmakers that the Chinese government could get hold of customer information and might also use the app to spread propaganda. If no sale takes place by Sunday, the onus will be on app stories to remove TikTok.
On Friday TikTok said, ”The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” it said in a statement.
”Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”
Biden has indicated the matter will rest in the hands of Trump. China is designated a “foreign adversary”, however ByteDance, whose institutional investors include the US private equity titan BlackRock, has said the Chinese government has never asked for customer information.
A US ban would force Hollywood marketing teams to rethink strategy. In recent years TikTok has played a part in film campaigns and studios may need to switch their attention to the app’s rivals like Meta-owned Instagram, and Snapchat.
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