President-elect Trump considers executive order to suspend enforcement of TikTok ban for 60-90 days

In the United States , the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), also known as the de facto 'TikTok Ban Act,' which orders TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell its business in April 2024, has been enacted . The TikTok Ban Act sets the deadline for the sale of TikTok as January 19, 2025 , but it has become clear that President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to take office on January 20, 2025, is considering issuing an executive order to suspend the enforcement of the TikTok Ban Act for 60 to 90 days after taking office in order to save TikTok.

Trump angles to 'save' TikTok from ban with an executive order - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/15/trump-tiktok-ban-executive-order/

Trump considers suspending TikTok ban enforcement for 60 to 90 days, Washington Post reports | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-considers-suspending-tiktok-ban-enforcement-60-90-days-washington-post-2025-01-15/

Donald Trump is reportedly considering an executive order to delay the TikTok ban. - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/15/24344739/donald-trump-is-reportedly-considering-an-executive-order-to-delay-the-tiktok-ban

TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the US on Sunday — The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/tiktok-prepares-for-immediate-shut-off-in-the-us-on-sunday

TikTok prepares to shut down app in US on Sunday, sources say | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-preparing-us-shut-off-sunday-information-reports-2025-01-15/

TikTok considering total shutdown in US if ban moves forward
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/tiktok-ban-total-shutdown-us-app-moves-forward-rcna187621

TikTok ban: How to save your videos, download your data from the app
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2025/01/15/tiktok-ban-save-videos-download-data/77721526007/

PAFACA, also known as the de facto TikTok Ban Act, orders ByteDance to sell TikTok and its affiliated applications or withdraw from the U.S. market. After being passed by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in April 2024, President Biden signed the TikTok Ban Act into law.

The US House of Representatives passes a bill banning TikTok, aiming for quick legislation by packaging it with a 15 trillion yen foreign aid package - GIGAZINE

Bill to ban and force sale of TikTok finally passed in the US Senate, President Biden announced that he would 'sign the bill immediately and address the nation' - GIGAZINE

President Biden signs TikTok ban bill, 270-day countdown begins until sale or withdrawal. What happened behind the unprecedented speed of the bill? - GIGAZINE

TikTok and prominent TikTok users have said that the TikTok ban violates the United States Constitution, and TikTok filed a lawsuit to have the ban revoked. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the TikTok ban in December 2024. TikTok immediately appealed to the Supreme Court and requested an injunction against the TikTok ban , but at oral arguments held on January 10, 2025, the Supreme Court justice stated that 'TikTok can continue to operate with an algorithm other than ByteDance' and 'ByteDance is a Chinese company, so it is not protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,' and expressed the view that the TikTok ban may not violate the Constitution.

Therefore, the deadline for the sale of TikTok's business is expected to be 'January 19, 2025' as planned.

What will happen when TikTok's deadline 'January 19, 2025' arrives? - GIGAZINE

Regarding the TikTok ban, President-elect Trump stated thathe wanted to keep TikTok going for a while , demonstrating his stance in defense of TikTok, but it has now become clear that he is considering issuing a presidential order to suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban for 60 to 90 days. It has been pointed out that this is intended to buy time for the Trump administration to consider alternative plans for the sale and purchase of TikTok's business and the suspension of its services.

At the time of writing, the Trump transition team had not commented on the TikTok ban, and it is unclear whether President-elect Trump can legally postpone the implementation of the TikTok ban using an executive order. However, President-elect Trump said that there should be time to 'politically resolve' the issue of the TikTok ban after taking office.

Mike Waltz, who will serve as National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, also said in an interview with Fox News that 'we're going to find a way to keep TikTok around and protect people's data,' indicating that he will work to keep TikTok in the United States.

President Biden told Reuters he cannot legally intervene in the matter unless ByteDance shows a credible plan to sell TikTok.

Meanwhile, Noel Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok, told the Supreme Court that 'essentially, the platform is being shut down' and that TikTok has no intention of selling it. According to TikTok's court filing, shutting down TikTok in the United States could affect users in many other countries, because hundreds of service providers in the United States work together to make TikTok available to users around the world.

If the TikTok ban is enacted, users will no longer be able to download TikTok from Apple's App Store or Google's Google Play, but the TikTok app already downloaded to their devices will continue to be available. According to sources, after January 19, when users open TikTok, a pop-up notification will be displayed informing them of the ban and directing them to a website containing information about the ban.

However, TikTok said in the filing that 'data centers will almost certainly determine that they are no longer capable of storing TikTok code, content, or data,' and that the ban would ultimately render the TikTok app unusable.