Following a Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on Chinese-owned internet service providers in the US, TikTok became unavailable in the country on Saturday, January 18. This was ahead of the ban taking effect the following day. Users of the short-form video app were greeted with a pop-up message stating that a law banning the app had been enacted. However, TikTok was available again from January 19, after incoming President Donald Trump announced he would “pause” the ban’s enforcement in the country.
TikTok was due to be banned under a law that prohibits “distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services” for any apps owned by a “covered company” controlled by a “foreign adversary”, which includes China. Owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, TikTok had argued that this law “violated free speech” for its American users. Trump had previously supported a ban on TikTok during his first term, but ended up joining the app as part of his re-election campaign in June. He now has almost 15 million followers on the platform.
The day after the app become available in the US again, TikTok thanked the President-elect for temporarily halting the app’s ban. A day before the unenforcement, Trump had stated that he intended to block the ban via his social media platform, Truth Social. Addressing companies, he had said he was “asking” them not to let TikTok stay dark. He had added that he would sign an executive order to give an extension on the period before TikTok’s ban would take effect. Also, he wished a US-based investor to have “50% ownership” of the app.
The legal authority of Trump to prevent the enforcement of the ban and extend TikTok’s services in the US remains ambiguous, said AP News. Donald Trump was due to be inaugurated later on the same day he had addressed the TikTok ban
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