The US President-elect Donald Trump is rallying to find a way to save TikTok from being banned, his incoming national security adviser has said.
Trump’s advisor in question, Congressman Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican, had said Trump would intervene to save TikTok if the Supreme Court upholds a law that bans the platform in the US unless it is sold by 19 January.
In its last week of governance, Biden administration has taken a surprising turn and is now also looking for ways to prevent TikTok’s ban from the United States, according to NBC News reports.
ByteDance has meanwhile, reiterated its plans to enact a TikTok ban for its 170 million US users by Sunday, 19 January.
Congressman Waltz noted that the US law allows a 90-day extension for ByteDance if the company has made significant progress towards a sale, which means more time for President Trump time to avoid TikTok’s ban ,” said Waltz.
Just recently, the incoming national security adviser hinted on Fox News that Trump was planning an executive order in an effort to suspend the TikTok ban in US but, it is yet unclear whether any such measure could circumvent a law passed by Congress.
TikTok app is being banned in the US on national security grounds, because of concerns that its data could be collected by the Chinese Communist Party.
The legislation does not ban use of the app, but it would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it in their services and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would erase it over time.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on April 2024 as part of a package that provided aid to Ukraine and Israel.
But now, news media NBC News has reported that Biden, too, has been considering ways to keep the app available if a ban goes into effect.
TikTok and ByteDance have denied being linked to the Chinese government, therefore on this basis, they have ruled out a sale.
The Supreme Court heard TikTok and Bytedance’s arguments against the law just last week and a decision is expected any day from now.
Donald Trump’s stance on TikTok took a dramatic turn of recent as he had attempted to ban the app during his first term in office, but during his campaign trail in 2024, he declared he would protect it.
