Selangor Journal
United States president-elect Donald Trump attends Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, the United States, on December 22, 2024. — Picture by REUTERS

Trump mulls executive order to prevent TikTok from being blocked in US

MOSCOW, Jan 16 — United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump is considering using an executive order to prevent the TikTok app from being banned in the United States (US), citing people familiar with the matter, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

It quoted The Washington Post’s report on Thursday, which said that the order will reportedly suspend enforcement of the law, which requires TikTok to be either blocked or sold on January 19, for 60 to 90 days, giving Trump’s administration time to negotiate a sale or find another solution.

However, from a legal perspective, this action is rather disputable, the report said.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration is also looking for ways to keep the app available in the US, NBC News reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The White House is reportedly seeking to apply the law banning TikTok in a way that would allow US users to access the app when the law goes into effect on Sunday.

Earlier this week, The Information news portal reported that TikTok was preparing to shut down its app for US users on January 19.

In April last year, Biden signed a law forcing TikTok owner ByteDance to find an American owner for the app. If this does not happen by January 19, 2025, the app will be banned in the US.

However, US President-elect Donald Trump has appealed to the US Supreme Court to delay the implementation of the ban so that he has time to resolve the dispute after his inauguration on January 20, according to a document obtained by RIA Novosti.

TikTok, launched in 2018, remains under scrutiny by US authorities, who fear the app may be sharing user data with the Chinese government or spreading propaganda. TikTok has consistently denied the allegations. The app has about 170 million users in the US alone.

— Bernama

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