President Biden will not enforce a law banning TikTok that is set to take effect the day before he leaves office, according to a US official.
The official indicated that Biden, 82, has decided to pass the buck to President-elect Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press, leaving the implementation of the law targeting the Chinese-owned social media app up to the incoming administration.
The law, which cleared both chambers of Congress and was approved by the president last year, compels TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest itself from the social media app by Jan. 19 or face a US ban.
TikTok — used by more than 170 million Americans monthly — is reportedly planning to shut down the app on Sunday.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to “save” TikTok, is reportedly considering executive action that would delay the implementation of the sell-or-ban law of the ban for up to 90 days.
“We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” incoming White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Thursday, noting that the new law allows for an extension preventing it from taking effect “as long as a viable deal is on the table.”
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear and fast-track a case filed by TikTok challenging the law.
During oral arguments last week, lawyers for the social media platform argued that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act violates TikTok’s free speech rights under the First Amendment.
Supporters of the TikTok ban argue that under the social media app’s current ownership, the Chinese Communist Party has access to the personal data of US-based users and could weaponize the app against Americans at a moment’s notice.
The high court could issue its ruling in the case on Friday.
All nine justices, however, appeared skeptical that the new law’s potential threats to free speech outweighed the national security concerns posed by the social media app.
Trump’s incoming solicitor general, John Sauer, filed a brief in the case last month asking the justices to delay the law from taking effect until after the president-elect assumes office, arguing that the matter could be redressed “through political means.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last month as part of his bid to avert the ban, is planning to attend the president-elect’s inauguration ceremony on Monday.
Chew is expected to be joined on the dais outside the Capitol Building by several tech moguls, including X boss Elon Musk, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Credit: Source link
