Less than 24 hours after the power outage, TikTok announced that President-elect Donald Trump has ordered the company's service providers (likely Apple, Google, and Oracle) to ensure that his administration does not enforce a law banning the app in the United States. To reassure her, she announced that she was back online. 1st place.
“TikTok is working to restore service based on agreements with service providers, which have provided us with the necessary clarity and assurances that we will not impose any penalties on service providers that provide services to TikTok,” the company said in a statement. Thank you President Trump.” This is a strong position in support of the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. A long-term solution to keeping TikTok in the US. ”
It's the latest salvo in a dramatic battle over TikTok's future in the United States. Last year, Congress passed a law requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban starting Jan. 19. TikTok sued on First Amendment grounds, but lost in the Supreme Court. Last night, Apple and Google removed the app from their respective app stores, along with many other apps developed by ByteDance. According to The Information, Oracle has instructed its employees to shut down the servers that host TikTok US data.
The move is a step toward preserving TikTok before President-elect Trump takes office, after he had tried to ban it during his time in office. “I will issue an executive order on Monday extending the period until the law's ban goes into effect so we can reach a deal to protect our national security,” he said on Truth Social Sunday morning. said. “This order confirms that I will not be liable to any company that helped stop TikTok from going dark prior to my order.”
Technically, the law only allows President Trump to extend the implementation deadline if ByteDance makes substantial progress on an agreement to sell its U.S. operations. Frank McCourt, a billionaire like Elon Musk, has been mentioned as a possible takeover candidate. According to Bloomberg, McCourt officially came forward, but Musk's name reportedly came up in discussions with the Chinese government. “I would like the United States to have 50% ownership in the joint venture,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “By doing this, we will save TikTok, keep it in good shape, and make sure it has a voice. Without America's approval, there would be no Tik Tok. With our approval, it would be thousands It’s worth billions, maybe trillions of dollars.”
TikTok, like other ByteDance-owned apps, has not yet returned to the US app store as of this article's publication. However, several users are reporting that their timeline is now accessible again after being listed as unavailable last night. Others regained access to their accounts, but with varying degrees of functionality.
