President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Sunday he would issue an executive order to end the federal ban on TikTok, hours after major app stores pulled the popular social media site and stopped working for US users.
“I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay in the dark,” said Mr. Trump in a post on Truth Social. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time before the ban begins, so that we can make an agreement to protect the security of our country.”
The ban comes from a 2024 law that requires app stores and cloud computing providers to stop distributing or hosting TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Lawmakers passed the law over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app, which has about 170 million users in the United States, to collect information about Americans or spread propaganda.
App stores and cloud computing providers that do not comply face significant financial penalties. Mr. Trump said in his post on Sunday that he would “make sure that there will be no liability for any company that helps keep TikTok from going black before my order.”
The executive order will mark a new phase in the fight against the future of the app, which has reshaped the landscape of social media and popular culture, and created the lives of millions of influencers and small businesses that rely on the platform. When he issued the order, Mr. Trump is trying to temporarily reject legislation that was passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and that the Supreme Court unanimously upheld last week.
It is not clear whether Mr Trump's efforts will succeed. His executive order could face legal challenge, including whether he has the power to stop the federal law from being implemented. Companies subject to the law may decide that the order does not provide sufficient assurance that they will not be punished for violating the law.
The law allows the president to grant a 90-day extension if a buyer is found, but only if there is “significant progress” on a deal that puts TikTok in the hands of a non-Chinese company. That agreement must also be able to be finalized within 90 days for the president to begin the expansion. And it's unclear whether that extension option still exists, since the law is already in effect.
In his letter on Sunday, Mr. Trump floated the idea that “he would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in the joint venture,” without providing further details.
TikTok has said a sale is unlikely, citing the global nature of its operations, and that China has already signed a ban on exports of its most valuable video recommendation technology.
TikTok and several Democratic members of Congress have in recent days made a last-ditch effort to keep the app online. Senator Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, privately told President Biden that allowing the app to go black on his watch would damage his legacy.
Critics of TikTok have begun their own push to keep the potential ban on track. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, has called some of the largest technology companies in recent days to comply with the law, according to three people familiar with the calls.
On Sunday, Mr. Cotton and Senator Pete Ricketts, Republican of Nebraska, in a joint statement, praised Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft for complying with the law, noting that violations could lead to bankruptcy.
“Now that the law has come into effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of its effective date,” they added. Only sales will allow TikTok to continue operating.
Maggie Haberman again Karen Weise responsible reporting.
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