The TikTok ban which came into effect on Sunday has been suspended for 75 days by an executive order signed by President Trump on his inauguration day. He has also said that US companies who provide services to TikTok during this time will not be prosecuted.
However, legal scholars note that Trump’s order does not appear to comply with the law, and say that companies who make TikTok available remain liable for hundreds of billions of dollars of fines, so Apple is unlikely to return the app to the App Store …
A four-day roller-coaster ride
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld the law imposing a ban on TikTok in the US. That meant the ban would take effect on January 19.
The Biden administration issued a statement saying that it didn’t intend to try to enforce the law in its last 24 hours in the White House, and it would therefore be a matter for Trump to decide. Trump initially said he needed time to consider the matter, and TikTok went offline in the US on Sunday.
Apple issued a statement saying it was obliged to follow the law by removing the app from the App Store.
Later on Sunday, Trump made a social media post saying that he would suspend the ban as soon as he took office the next day, and that there would be no liability for ignoring the law in the meantime. Access to the app was restored by Bytedance, as US host Oracle apparently decided it could trust Trump’s promise on liability.
However, Apple and other app store providers were unwilling to return the app to their app stores on the basis of a social media post.
TikTok ban suspended for 75 days
Trump has signed an executive order suspending the ban for 75 days, and stating that US companies who support TikTok’s return will be shielded from liability.
As NPR notes, the law allows for the TikTok ban to be suspended for up to 90 days, provided that there is evidence of a deal in progress.
The law does allow one exception: TikTok can continue to operate if Trump certifies to Congress that “significant progress” has been made toward TikTok breaking away from ByteDance’s ownership.
The law requires that Trump show Congress there are legally binding agreements in motion over ownership changes at TikTok.
Executive order likely invalid
Trump has not provided any evidence that the requirements of the law have been met, so lawyers continue to express doubt that the promised liability shield would have any effect.
Given this, it seems unlikely that Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft will risk restoring TikTok to their app stores until the legal requirements are met.
China slightly softens its stance
The Chinese government has so far rejected the idea of any sale to a US company, but a senior official yesterday suggested that it might be softening its stance.
Trump had suggested that perhaps a 50/50 joint venture between China and the US might be a solution. Reuters asked for a response to this, and was given a non-committal answer.
We hope the US will earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries. When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles. If it involves Chinese companies, China’s laws and regulations should be observed.
While that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of the idea, it is a change from the previous outright rejection.
Photo by Tabrez Syed on Unsplash
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