The incoming Trump administration and the Biden administration argued Saturday over the status of TikTok and whether the service would be banned, after the video app said it would be forced to “go dark” on Sunday as a federal law comes in. in force.
President-elect Donald J. Trump told NBC News that he would “most likely” find a way to give the company a 90-day extension once he takes office Monday “because it's appropriate.”
Earlier on Saturday, the White House press secretary called TikTok's claim that it would be shut down “a stunt.” TikTok, in a statement late Friday, had asked the Biden administration to assure Apple, Google and other technology companies that they would not be punished for providing TikTok services in the United States.
“We have stated our position clearly and directly: Actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Despite the comings and goings, TikTok's fate was still unclear.
The company's statement was its latest attempt to pressure the administration to grant it a reprieve from a law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, that would effectively ban its service starting Sunday.
The law says app stores and major cloud computing providers cannot offer TikTok to American consumers unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the company to a non-Chinese owner. Lawmakers introduced the measure last year over fears that Chinese ownership of TikTok poses a threat to national security.
TikTok did not detail what would happen on Sunday, including whether it would voluntarily shut down or simply stop working because it would lose access to the services it needs to stay online. The application has 170 million American users.
The Biden administration had previously signaled that federal officials would not take immediate action against Apple, Google and the other companies under the law.
President Biden signed the TikTok ban bill into law in April after it passed Congress with bipartisan support. The lawmakers said Beijing could pressure ByteDance to mine sensitive data on American users or influence TikTok content to serve the interests of the Chinese government.
TikTok has said the Chinese government has no role in the company and has spent billions of dollars to address US security concerns. ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing and is subject to China's control.
On Friday, the Supreme Court accepted the government's national security rationale for the law, with the majority opinion noting “the scale of TikTok and its susceptibility to control by foreign adversaries, along with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects.” .
Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement after the Supreme Court ruling that the process would unfold “over time.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said enforcing the law will fall to the incoming Trump administration, which takes office on Monday.
TikTok said those comments were not enough to convince other companies that they would not break the law if they continued to distribute and maintain the app. Those companies could face penalties of up to $5,000 for each TikTok user who accesses the app within the United States after the ban takes effect.
“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 service providers who are essential to keeping TikTok available to more than 170 million Americans,” the company said.
The loss of that user base would be significant, but it is not the largest that TikTok has suffered. In 2020, it was banned in India, where it had 200 million users. As in the United States, Indian authorities cited national security concerns in their decision against TikTok.
Trump, who will take office on Monday, previously indicated his support for TikTok and was considering an executive order to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States.
But it's unclear whether a Trump executive order could effectively stop a ban. Legal experts said he could order the Justice Department not to enforce the law, or delay its enforcement for a set period, but it's unclear how that executive order would fare if challenged in court.
Trump could also find a buyer, allowing him to extend the deadline by 90 days if a viable deal is on the table. But no clear buyers have emerged.
It was unclear what 90-day extension Trump was considering when he spoke to NBC News on Saturday.
“We have to look at it carefully. “It's a very big situation,” he told NBC. If he grants the application a 90-day extension, “I'll probably announce it on Monday,” he added.
