\u00a0President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive action that delays enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days.<\/p>\n
The action directs the US Justice Department not to enforce the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and was signed in April by former President Joe Biden. The law required that starting January 19, TikTok be banned in the United States unless it sells to a buyer from America or one of its allies.<\/p>\n
The law gives the president broad discretion on how to enforce the ban. Trump\u2019s promise in a Truth Social post that he would sign an executive action Monday so that the law will not be enforced \u2013 including for ban violations that took place before he became president \u2013 was sufficient enough for TikTok, which shut itself down for about 14 hours Saturday night into Sunday, to go back online Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unfortunate timing of section 2(a) of the Act \u2014 one day before I took office as the 47th President of the United States \u2014 interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act\u2019s prohibitions before they take effect,\u201d Trump\u2019s executive action said. \u201cThis timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
The action says the 75-day delay will help the Trump administration attempt to \u201cdetermine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters Monday that he changed his mind on TikTok because he \u201cgot to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids,\u201d Trump said in the Oval Office when asked what changed his mind. \u201cIf China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also told reporters the action that he signed on TikTok gave him the right to either \u201csell it or close it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the right to either sell it or close it, and we\u2019ll make that determination,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n
But TikTok\u2019s ultimate fate in America remains in doubt. It\u2019s unclear that TikTok\u2019s China-based owner, ByteDance, would want to sell to a buyer, even if it were a deal brokered by Trump.<\/p>\n
TikTok restored access for American users midday on Sunday, crediting Trump for bringing the app back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period before the law\u2019s prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,\u201d Trump said in a truth social post-Sunday. He added that he would not hold TikTok\u2019s technology partners \u2014 including Apple, Google and cloud computing company Oracle \u2014 liable for continuing to make the app available until he signed the order.<\/p>\n