President Joe Biden, who will leave office on January 20, won’t enforce the TikTok ban before then. According to Associate Press, Biden will leave that decision to the incoming President Donald Trump.
Congress accused Bytedance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, of spying on Americans and collecting sensitive data from children.
“Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas claimed that TikTok is a Chinese Communist spy app that ensnares our children, collects their data, targets them with detrimental and manipulative content, and disseminates communist propaganda.”
Last year, President Biden enacted a law prohibiting TikTok, effective January 19. The law mandates that TikTok be acquired by a U.S. entity.
On January 19, the app will be removed from all online platforms. Some users have pledged to circumvent the ban by utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to conceal their IP addresses. However, TikTok has stated that it will completely shut down the app if the ban is implemented.
An anonymous White House official revealed that Biden intends to leave the app’s fate to the Trump administration.
Trump, who had previously advocated for a ban on TikTok, has pledged not to do so. TikTok’s CEO is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., on January 20.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who is also attending the inauguration, has offered to purchase TikTok.
Incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stated on Thursday that the federal law that could ban TikTok permits an extension as long as a viable deal is in place.
