by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters): U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he “most likely” will give TikTok a 90-day exemption from a potential ban when he takes office on Monday, as the app used by 170 million U.S. users vibrated nervous waiting before closing scheduled for Sunday.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done because it’s the right thing to do,” Trump told NBC. “If I decide to do it, I will probably announce it on Monday.”
The Chinese-owned app that has delighted nearly half of Americans, powered tiny businesses and shaped online culture said Friday that the U.S. would go murky on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration provided assurances to companies like Apple (NASDAQ: ) and Google ( NASDAQ:) that no enforcement action will be taken against them once the ban goes into effect.
Under a law passed last year and upheld by a unanimous Supreme Court on Friday, the platform has until Sunday to cut ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or shut down its U.S. operations to allay concerns that it poses a national security threat.
The White House dismissed TikTok’s Friday comment as a marketing stunt, reiterating on Saturday that it would be up to the fresh Trump administration to take action, raising the likelihood of the site shutting down on Sunday.
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
It is unclear whether TikTok has met the high legal requirements to obtain a 90-day reprieve from Trump – which requires binding agreements allowing ByteDance to complete the sale of TikTok by mid-April.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fresh White House statement.
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the United States of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect its legitimate rights and interests,” the spokesman said.
App users said goodbye, some filming themselves frantically scrolling or sharing their final secrets with their followers before the ban was implemented.
“Does anyone know if the TikTok ban goes into effect on Sunday or if we have all of Sunday to continue liking brain rot? I have to plan accordingly,” fitness influencer Brittany Williams said in a video addressed to her 64,000 followers.
On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ban, saying the law was justified on national security grounds.
Without Biden’s decision to formally invoke the 90-day deadline delay, companies that provide services to TikTok or host the app could face enormous financial liability.
Experts say Trump could also direct his Justice Department to “deprioritize” the law or not enforce it, but it’s unclear whether that would provide enough legal protection for app store owners Apple and Google, as well as companies like Oracle (NYSE 🙂 providing key data hosting and other services for TikTok.
Trump tried to force a divestiture of TikTok in 2020 and promised to ban it, but was blocked by US courts.
USERS GO TO ALTERNATIVES
Uncertainty about the future of the application has prompted users – mainly newborn people – to look for alternative solutions, including China’s RedNote. Shares of Rivals Meta (NASDAQ:) and Snap also saw their shares rise this month ahead of the ban as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.
Marketing companies dependent on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans this week in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional predictions that there would be a solution to keep the app running.
There have been signs that TikTok could make a comeback under Trump, who has said he wants to pursue a “political solution” to the issue and last month urged the Supreme Court to halt implementation of the ban.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.
Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the rapidly growing business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also been in talks to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company denies this.
U.S. search engine startup Perplexity AI made an offer to ByteDance on Saturday to merge Perplexity with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters. Perplexity would merge with TikTok US and create a fresh entity by merging the combined company with New Capital Partners (WA:), the person added.
Privately held ByteDance is approximately 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE:) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees each own 20%. It employs over 7,000 people in the USA
