US President Joe Biden signed a law banning Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, but granted a 75-day extension to comply with the ban. The app briefly went dark last month before returning to the US app stores of Apple and Google after receiving assurances from the Trump administration that they would not be held liable for allowing downloads.
The decision came after Apple and Google received guarantees that the ban wouldn’t be enforced yet. TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance was required to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avoid an outright ban. The Biden administration argued that TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.
Despite previous accusations, China and TikTok have denied these claims. Trump supported banning the app during his first term but appeared to change his stance last year. He met with TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew at Mar-a-Lago after his electoral victory and attended her inauguration ceremony.
Trump has floated ideas for a compromise, including buying TikTok and giving half to the US, or selling it to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison or billionaire Elon Musk. Other potential buyers include billionaire Frank McCourt and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary. The app’s biggest user, Jimmy Donaldson, also expressed interest in purchasing TikTok.
The ban was supported by both sides of US lawmakers and upheld by the Supreme Court. However, Trump’s executive order allows TikTok to remain available for now, at least until April 5th.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g91kyjw07o