Donald Trump announced that he will likely grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from its impending ban, scheduled to start on Sunday, just before his inauguration as the 47th US president. Trump informed NBC News that an official decision would probably be made on Monday, following his assumption of office.
This development followed TikTok's warning of a potential shutdown on Sunday unless the outgoing Biden administration guaranteed non-enforcement of the ban. The Supreme Court recently upheld a regulation requiring TikTok to be divested by its China-based parent company, ByteDance, by January 19. ByteDance has resisted selling the platform to date.
Trump expressed in an NBC News interview, "The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done... It's appropriate... It's a very big situation." He reiterated similar sentiments in an interview with ABC News saying, "Well, I have the right... I'll extend for 90 days... until we figure something out."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed TikTok's "go dark" threat as a "stunt" and emphasized that actions related to this law would be addressed by the incoming administration. Despite concerns raised by US national security officials about potential data-tracking by Chinese spies through TikTok, the platform remains popular among its 170 million US users and essential for political campaigns to engage younger audiences.
In light of potential repercussions of a TikTok ban, content creators like fashion designer Nicole Bloomgarden voiced concerns over the impact on their livelihoods. The possibility of TikTok "going dark" in the US, akin to what occurred in India with a ban on the app and other Chinese-owned platforms, is alarming for both users and businesses reliant on the platform for income.