President Joe Biden won’t enforce the TikTok ban before leaving office on January 20. Officials tell the Associated Press that Biden will leave that decision up to incoming President Donald Trump.
Congress accused Bytedance – the Chinese company that owns TikTok – of spying on Americans and collecting sensitive data from kids.
“TikTok is a Chinese Communist spy app that addicts our kids, harvests their data, targets them with harmful and manipulative content, and spreads communist propaganda,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said.
Last year, Biden signed a law banning TikTok, effective on January 19. Under the law, TikTok must be sold to a U.S. buyer.
On Jan. 19, the app will be removed from all online stores. Some users have vowed to circumvent the ban by using a VPN service to mask their IP addresses. But TikTok has said it will shut down the app completely if the ban is implemented.
One White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Biden will leave the app’s fate to the Trump administration.
Trump, who once called to ban TikTok, has pledged not to ban the app. TikTok’s CEO is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC on Jan. 20.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also attending the inauguration, has offered to buy TikTok.
Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that the federal law that could ban TikTok “allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table.”
