Trump Indicates Reevaluation of TikTok Ban
In recent developments, President-elect Donald Trump indicated a possibility of reevaluating the upcoming ban on TikTok Inc., in contrast to his previous stance during his presidency in 2020. Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump noted a change in his attitude toward the China-based video-sharing application, linking its impact to young voters and Republican gains. "We will take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," he said.
During his previous term, Trump expressed concerns about national security risks due to TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, being of Chinese origin. In response, he signed a presidential executive order demanding the sale of TikTok or a ban in the U.S. However, legal challenges delayed the ban, which was ultimately revoked by President Joe Biden. Despite this, Biden signed a bipartisan bill last year that set January 19, 2025, as a deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban.
The White House indicated a preference for divestiture over a complete ban, aiming to prevent China from potentially misusing American user data. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, "What we want to see is not a ban, but a divestiture. We have been very clear about this." Jean-Pierre did not comment on whether Biden would implement divestiture before the end of his term.
Amid ongoing legal proceedings, a federal appeals court upheld the divestiture law while ByteDance is seeking a temporary stay to appeal to the Supreme Court. This situation could leave the final decision in Trump's hands should he return to office. While the law limits the president's ability to waive divestiture requirements, it offers some flexibility in defining the conditions of the divestiture. This may allow Trump to determine that TikTok's U.S. operations are sufficiently independent to protect user data privacy.
Trump's view of TikTok has evolved over the past year, and he has started seeing the platform as a viable alternative to rival services like Meta Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram reels. Banned from Facebook due to his role in the Capitol riots, Trump labeled the platform as "the enemy of the people." Since then, he has embraced TikTok and utilized it for spreading viral content during his presidential campaign. Last week, on the eve of a court ruling, Trump highlighted TikTok's effectiveness by sharing interaction statistics favoring TikTok over Instagram's video feature.
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