On January 21, Reuters reported that the executive order by President Trump regarding TikTok has introduced a complex set of legal issues for the popular short-video platform. The order has sparked tensions between the White House, Congress members advocating for a TikTok ban, and tech companies caught in the middle.
Despite Trump's directive, legal experts indicate that service providers like Google and Apple still face significant uncertainty and potential financial risk for non-compliance unless TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests by January 19. As of early Tuesday afternoon, TikTok remained accessible on Apple and Android devices in the U.S. following Trump's order the day before.
Trump's order directed the U.S. Justice Department to postpone enforcement of the divestment rule for 75 days, while also instructing the attorney general to reassure service providers that they would not face liability during the review period. However, University of Minnesota Law School professor Alan Rozenshtein cautioned that this delay offers limited assurance, as it may not be legally binding, potentially leaving room for changes or selective enforcement.
When contacted for comment, Google declined to respond, and Apple had not replied by the time of the report.
The divestment legislation, enacted with broad bipartisan support over concerns of Chinese influence on national security, imposed substantial penalties on service providers for non-compliance, potentially amounting to billions of dollars in legal exposure per user.
Although executive orders cannot override laws approved by Congress, lawmakers have previously resorted to legal action to enforce their enacted measures. Legal experts suggest that a lawsuit from Congress challenging the TikTok law might face challenges due to courts viewing it as a political issue within legislators' realm or a national security concern under the President's authority.
While the TikTok law does not explicitly grant individuals the right to enforce it, shareholders could potentially take legal action against service providers citing Trump's order to disregard the ban. Timothy Edgar, an expert in cybersecurity and digital privacy from Brown University, warned that such a stance could pose a significant risk for these companies given the severe penalties outlined in the legislation.