Washington DC: After halting its services in the United States because of a Biden administration ban, TikTok started recovering its services on Sunday. Thanks to support that President-elect Donald Trump stated he would sign an executive order that would delay the ban and make sure TikTok remains running in the United States.
Earlier this week, TikTok, which is operated by the Chinese firm ByteDance, said that it was grateful to Trump for his involvement. ‘We are grateful to President Trump for the clarification and the reassurance of the American service providers that they will not penalize us for serving 170+ Million Americans TikTok and helping more than seven million small businesses grow,’ the company said. TikTok also stressed it as being a key decision for free speech and against censorship saying it is ready to work with Trump on a longer-term solution to the issue.
Trump’s Executive Order to Delays Ban
Former President Trump, who is poised to be sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States on Monday announced on his social media platform, Truth Social that he intends to sign an executive order that will put on hold the TikTok ban for another 90 days. “We will increase the time before enforcement of the prohibitive provisions of the law in order to make a deal for our security of our country,” Trump said.
He also offered a deal of a partnership with TikTok that would give the US a 50% share in TikTok. Trump went on to explain that the providers and companies helping TikTok in the United States, would have no legal ramifications under the order.
Donald Trump also backed himself into the position, prior to his inauguration speaking at a rally, he said, “Honestly we have no choice”. We have to save it.” He essentially thanked TikTok for helping the vitality of the new small businesses and reaching out to the youth specifically in the 2024 election. Trump also said that US government can work on establishing joint venture for ownership of the app security and development while preserving security interest.
TikTok actions and uncertainties
TikTok shut down for Americans on Saturday night and before a law prohibiting the app from the United States came into force on Sunday. The concerns were raised by the Biden administration over the mishandling of Americans’ data through the tech firm ByteDance by claiming its unsafe on security fronts.
During his first presidency term, Trump took action on the same issue in 2020, and proposed a ban on TikTok for the same reason he believed the application was sharing user data with the Chinese government. He signed an order requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok and its constituent apps to a US company within 90 days of the order’s execution. However the deal evolved further and became an investment deal wherein Oracle and Walmart acquired stakes in the operation of the app.
But Trump’s recent position on TikTok is not so uncompromising – and this is a shift for him. Former president said he has soft corner for the app as it was useful to him to reach out to young people in his re-election campaign.
The Message TikTok Wants You to Hear
In response to Trump’s claims, the application reported to users its services were coming back online. By now, people recall that due to the initiative of President Trump, Tik Tok returned to the US, the app stated in the notice. The statement was a reminder of Trump’s contribution to the company to keep the app running and affirmed the company’s loyalty to the 170 million Americans and 7 million small businesses depending on the application.
Current and potential impacts of TikTok on Americans’ lives
Although Trump seems to have resolved some operational issues of Tiktok in the United States for the time being, But in the long term some of the issues relating to the main subject of the app are uncertain. Despite this, opponents’ concerns are that although the suggested joint venture could help reduce the threat of nation security, the continued participation of ByteDance might not obviate all the risks.
The situation translates to one of the biggest policy flip-flops for Trump, who wanted to bang the deal but is now defending TikTok. This action indicates a larger promise of making decisions based on both the security needs in the country and economic and social benefits while tiktok still continues to be an essential platform for millions of Americans and businesses.
Thus, as TikTok is getting back to work after the merger, the further actions will be most probably focused on the further negotiations between ByteDance, the American authorities and possible investors to define the long-term perspective of the app’s functioning in the United States. As for whether Trump’s executive order and proposed joint venture sign a long term solution it remains to be seen.
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