Donald Trump has stated that he’ll “most certainly” give TikTok a 90-day delay to its ban within the US as soon as he’s in workplace.
The social media platform formally shut down within the nation on Saturday (January 18) forward of a Supreme Court docket deadline that had been set for Sunday.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t accessible proper now. A regulation banning TikTok has been enacted within the U.S. Sadly, meaning you’ll be able to’t use TikTok for now,” was the message seen by customers of the app after the shutdown.
“We’re lucky that President Trump has indicated that he’ll work with us on an answer to reinstate TikTok as soon as he takes workplace. Please keep tuned!”
🚨 TikTok has formally shut down in america. pic.twitter.com/9q2gsesomm
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 19, 2025
The way forward for the positioning was thrown into query when its Chinese language guardian firm, ByteDance, misplaced an attraction final month in opposition to a US regulation searching for to ban it. ByteDance additionally stated repeatedly that it was not keen to promote, though doing so would enable it to stay accessible within the nation.
A Supreme Court docket ruling on Friday declared that the positioning would solely stay accessible to Individuals “underneath American possession or different possession that addresses the nationwide safety issues recognized by Congress in creating this regulation”.
With Trump’s inauguration set to happen on Monday (January 20), the outgoing Biden administration stated that the timing was such that they would go away the implementation of the Court docket’s ruling to the incoming Trump authorities.
Now, Trump has given a telephone interview to NBC Information during which he has indicated that he’ll search to present TikTok a reprieve for 90 days as soon as he’s sworn in.
“The 90-day extension is one thing that will likely be most certainly carried out, as a result of it’s applicable. , it’s applicable. We’ve to have a look at it rigorously. It’s a really massive state of affairs,” he stated.
In one other interview with ABC Information, he reiterated: “Effectively, I’ve the proper as you realize, I’m the one who’s going to be calling the pictures. Almost definitely, I’ll lengthen for 90 days – you’ve got the extension for 90 days as you most likely know. I’ll try this till we determine one thing out.”
Though ByteDance has confirmed that they don’t seem to be trying to promote the app, that hasn’t stopped a number of well-known faces from reaching out and expressing their curiosity in buying the platform.
Elon Musk, for instance, was a reputation within the working. The rumours arose following the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla buying Twitter for a staggering $44billion in 2022 and rebranding it as X. A possible sale to Musk was valued between $40billion and $50billion.
This was quickly shut down by TikTok, nonetheless, with creators saying: “We are able to’t be anticipated to touch upon pure fiction.”
Shortly afterwards, YouTube sensation MrBeast advised his followers that he would step up and purchase the platform to forestall it being banned within the US. He later posted a follow-up, insinuating that he and different billionaires have been considering working collectively to make a bid.
The sell-or-ban measure for TikTok was issued into regulation by an outgoing Biden final yr amid claims that the corporate’s possession construction may enable the Chinese language authorities to achieve entry to the information of its thousands and thousands of American customers.
India banned the app nationwide in 2020, whereas Taiwan and Afghanistan did the identical in 2022.
Over 30 US states, Canada and the European Union have individually banned the app from use on government-owned gadgets over issues it may pose a safety threat.
The consequence of a US TikTok ban may have a big affect on the music business. A latest report by the platform claimed {that a} majority of US and UK chart-topping singles in 2024 have been related to a TikTok development.