By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive access to TikTok in the United States through an executive order after being sworn in on Monday, but said he wants the popular social media app to be owned by at least half of American investors.
TikTok stopped working for its 170 million American users late Saturday before a law shutting it down for national security reasons took effect Sunday. US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk that Americans' data could be misused.
Trump said he would “extend the time period before the law's prohibitions go into effect, so we can reach an agreement to protect our national security.”
“I would like to see the United States take a 50% stake in a joint venture. By doing so, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and let it speak,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said the executive order would specify that there would be no liability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from disappearing before his order.
Trump had previously said he would likely give TikTok a break from the 90-day ban after taking office, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to the app's users.
“A law has been passed banning TikTok in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We're lucky that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. the charge. Please Stay tuned,” a message notified users of TikTok, which disappeared from the Apple (NASDAQ and Google (NASDAQ ) app stores late Saturday.
Although temporary, TikTok's unprecedented shutdown will have a wide-ranging impact on U.S.-China relations, U.S. politics, the social media market, and millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.
The United States has never banned a major social media platform. The law overwhelmingly passed by Congress gives the incoming Trump administration broad authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in U.S. app stores as of Saturday evening.
It was unclear if any US users could still access the app, but it was no longer working for many users, and people looking to access it through a web app were encountering the same message that TikTok was no longer working.
MOVE TO ALTERNATIVES
Under the law passed last year and upheld Friday by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court, the platform had until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent or close its U.S. operation to resolve concerns. that represents a threat to national security.
China's embassy in Washington on Friday accused the United States of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson said.
Uncertainty about the app's future had caused mostly young users to look for alternatives, including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta (NASDAQ and Snap have seen their stock prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.
“This is my new home now,” one user wrote in a RedNote post, tagged with the words “tiktokrefugee” and “sad.”
Minutes after TikTok shut down in the United States, other users turned to x, formerly called twitter.
“I really didn't think they would cut TikTok. Now I'm sad and I miss the friends I made there. I hope everything comes back in a few days,” @RavenclawJedi wrote.
'HAIR ON FIRE' MOMENT
NordVPN, a popular virtual private network, or VPN, that allows users to access the Internet from servers around the world, said it was “experiencing temporary technical difficulties.”
Web searches for “VPN” spiked minutes after American users lost access to TikTok, according to Google Trends.
instagram users worried about whether they would still receive products they had purchased from TikTok shop, the e-commerce arm of the video platform.
Marketing companies that rely on TikTok have scrambled to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying a solution to keep the app in business would materialize. operation.
There have been signs that TikTok could make a comeback under Trump, who has said he wants to seek a “political resolution” to the issue and last month urged the Supreme Court to halt implementation of the ban.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.
Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth up to $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also held talks about selling TikTok's US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.
US search engine startup Perplexity ai submitted an offer on Saturday to ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters. Perplexity would merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by combining the merged company with other partners, the person added.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
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