WASHINGTON (AP) – United States (US) President Joe Biden won’t enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday, a US official said yesterday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump.
Congress last year, in a law signed by Biden, required that TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance divest the company by January 19, a day before the presidential inauguration.
The official said the outgoing administration was leaving the implementation of the law – and the potential enforcement of the ban – to Trump.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal Biden administration thinking.
Trump, who once called to ban the app, has since pledged to keep it available in the US, though his transition team has not said how they intend to accomplish that.
TikTok Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration and be granted a prime seating location on the dais as the president-elect’s national security adviser signals that the incoming administration may take steps to “keep TikTok from going dark”.
Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends that the federal law that could ban TikTok tomorrow also “allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table”.
The push to save TikTok, much like the move to ban it in the US, crossed partisan lines.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with Biden on Thursday to advocate for extending the deadline to ban TikTok.
“It’s clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Democrats had tried on Wednesday to pass legislation that would have extended the deadline, but Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas blocked it.
Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that TikTok has had ample time to find a buyer.
“TikTok is spy app that addicts our kids, harvests their data, targets them with harmful and manipulative content, and spreads propaganda,” Cotton said.
