President-elect Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order after he takes office Monday to try to save TikTok as the deadline approaches for the social media platform to sell off its U.S. assets or be banned from the country, according to the Washington Post and CNN, citing unnamed sources.
The potential executive order would strive to allow TikTok’s 170 million American users to continue to use the app for a certain period of time as the administration sorts out who could potentially buy it, CNN reported Wednesday.
Congress passed the law in April that requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest TikTok’s American assets if the app wants to maintain a U.S. presence after Sunday. TikTok has challenged the law in court, arguing it violates the First Amendment right to free speech. The Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled, but it appeared poised to uphold the law when it heard arguments Friday.
It’s not clear whether Trump would have the power to halt the law through an executive order. The Washington Post reported Trump is considering an order that would halt the ban for 60-90 days. However, Alan Rozenshtein, a University of Minnesota law professor, told the Post an executive order would make Trump’s intentions clear, but it’s not a “magical” document that would halt the ban.
Popular TikTok creators have voiced fear for their livelihoods as the impending ban looms. However, government lawyers have defended the law, saying the company’s ownership structure means the Chinese government could exploit the app to get sensitive personal information on Americans and manipulate the information Americans consume.
“Trump could come out as the hero in all of this,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor of communications at Syracuse University who studies social media.
Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, said on Fox News host Bret Baier’s Special Report Wednesday that the administration would be able to save the app while addressing security concerns.
“TikTok itself is a fantastic platform,” Waltz said. “We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data, and that’s the deal that will be in front of us.”
Asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday whether she would commit to enforcing the sell-or-ban law “promptly and effectively,” Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi said she couldn’t discuss pending litigation.
Bondi later pledged to Blumenthal that she would “in general” defend U.S. laws against constitutional attacks, but said she couldn’t make that pledge specifically about the TikTok ban.
“I’m not trying to hedge on anything, senator, I just can’t comment on anything,” Bondi said.
According to TikTok, 170 million Americans – and more than 1 billion people worldwide – use the platform to share and view videos. The art-of-the-deal president-elect asked the Supreme Court to put a pause on the law to give him a chance to negotiate a solution to address national security concerns with the app while still allowing it to operate in the U.S.
“He likes drama and, if he can come up with a plan that doesn’t cost him a lot politically he might do it, but he’s not going to use any chips to save TikTok,” said James A. Lewis, a technology policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on the potential for Trump to intervene.
TikTok is preparing to shut down its app in the U.S. if the ban goes into effect Sunday, according to multiple media reports.
The ban wouldn’t result in Americans immediately losing access to TikTok. Instead, it would prevent new downloads from app stores, and would also block users from getting app updates, which could make the app hard to use over time.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers and Bart Jansen
