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President-elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order on Monday that would ensure that companies that helped keep TikTok in service would not be held liable for violating the ban passed by Congress.
Tiktok The service was shut down this weekend ahead of a Sunday deadline by which the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, wants to sell the video app to avoid a ban allowing downloads.
“I urge companies not to let Tik Tok go dark!” Trump said. On Sunday’s Truth Social Forum.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time before the restrictions go into effect so we can come to an agreement to protect our national security,” the president-elect said.
Trump added that the order would ensure that companies that helped keep TikTok in service face “no accountability.”
Florida lawyer Mike Waltz, the national security adviser at Trump’s inauguration Monday, told CNN earlier Sunday that the president-elect would consider allowing continued Chinese ownership, but put up a “firewall” to make sure the app’s data “is protected here.” American soil”.
Trump said in a social media post that he wants the United States to “have a 50% ownership position in the joint venture.”
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and let[it]SikhUp,” Trump said. “Without US approval, TikTok doesn’t exist. With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions.”
“My initial idea is a joint venture between the existing owners and/or the new owners, whereby the United States would acquire 50% ownership in the joint venture between the US and any acquisition we choose.”
Lawmakers and U.S. security officials believe the Chinese government could use TikTok to access Americans’ personal information, which could facilitate espionage. TikTok China denies that it has any control over the app.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the ban will come into force on Sunday. On Saturday, Trump said he would extend the deadline to sell Tik Tok, which has been downloaded by 170 million Americans, by 90 days.
But some Republican lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton and Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, said in a statement that “there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’.”
A person involved in drafting the TikTok law said there was no provision in the law for an extension after the January 19 deadline.
The law allows for a 90-day extension if certain conditions are met — including evidence of “significant improvement” toward evacuation and execution of “binding agreements” — but only if they come before the deadline.
In a separate interview with CBS Television, Waltz said Trump needed time to evaluate potential deals to save the app.
“What we want between now and Monday is to buy the president some time to review those deals, and if it’s dark, that’s going to be very problematic,” he said.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told NBC that when Trump said “save TikTok,” he believed the president-elect was referring to ways to “try to force real change.”
During his first term in office, Trump issued an executive order to stop TikTok from operating in the US, but it was blocked by the courts. His administration tried to engineer a deal that would ensure China would not have access to the information. China’s National Security Law requires Chinese companies to hand over information when ordered by the government.
Trump protested last year’s congressional banning or banning legislation that would benefit Facebook, which he banned from the platform for two years. Facebook competes with TikTok through its Instagram app.
