By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-16 21:52:07 | Updated at 2025-01-17 05:49:10
8 hours ago
Joe Biden has made a last-minute announcement about the looming TikTok ban - just days before he is set to hand power over to Donald Trump.
The president is not planning to take action that will immediately force the social media giant to go dark for US users on Sunday, ABC News reported.
While his office is now saying it won't enforce the change in law, the Chinese-owned app may still proactively choose to shut itself down on January 19.
The ban is poised to go into effect just one day before Trump is sworn into the White House.
Now, Biden's office has said enforcing the ban is 'up to the next administration to implement' because the deadline was listed over a holiday weekend.
A White House official told the outlet: 'Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.'
Sunday is the deadline for the TikTok's parent company, Bytedance, to sell its US assets or be pulled from US app stores due to concerns over the app's links to the communist Chinese government.
Biden signed a law last year making the demand to address Justice Department concerns the platform is vulnerable to Chinese spies and Beijing propaganda.
The president is not planning to take action that will immediately force the much-loved social media app to go dark for US users on Sunday
The Supreme Court heard TikTok's appeal to the ban last week, but is expected to allow the law to proceed as planned on Sunday.
It is ultimately up to app stores and internet hosting services to stop providing TikTok to US users after January 19, otherwise they face a fine via the Justice Department.
While Trump previously supported a ban, he is now mulling an executive order once in office that would suspend the order for 60 to 90 days, the Washington Post reported.
The controversial ban - which is set to throw millions of Americans off the app - is poised to go into effect just one day before Trump is sworn into office
A source told the outlet that Trump is eager to be viewed as 'making a deal' after the deadline passes.
'Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?' Trump said in a Truth Social post this month.
His change of heart is reportedly due to the massive amount of support he garnered for his White House run through the campaign.
TikToks by ratings-obsessed Trump and his team have amassed more than four billion views, more than megastar Taylor Swift or political rival Kamala Harris.
Around 150 million Americans use TikTok - close to half the population.
While TikTok is extremely popular among younger users and members of Gen-Z, a third of adults in the US also use the app.
