Will TikTok be banned or not? That answer seemingly changes by the minute.
The Biden Administration on Thursday afternoon signaled it will leave enforcing the looming TikTok ban up to the incoming Trump Administration, according to ABC News. That decision came just hours after the president was “exploring options” to keep the app — which faces a Jan. 19 ban, unless ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, sells its U.S. business — alive in the States.
“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,” a White House official told ABC News.
President Joe Biden signed the law banning TikTok from the U.S. last April. The chief concern American lawmakers say they have with TikTok is that it could double as a spyware app for the Chinese communist government; TikTok, per Chinese law, is required to share user data if asked to do so.
Now, the Biden Administration is indicating it will pass the issue to President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants to “save” TikTok. For his part, Trump is considering an executive order to protect the app, which he credits with helping attract many youth voters his way, The Washington Post reported.
But to make the matter more confusing, a White House official told NBC News earlier on Thursday that the Biden Administration would enforce the ban if it remains in place. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the legality of banning TikTok, but a last minute overturn of the law does not appear likely, based on comments made by several justices during a hearing last week.
“We are not considering deferring enforcement,” the White House official said of the looming ban. “Statutorily, we don’t believe we have the authority to do that.”
TikTok had previously indicated it would shut down the app completely for users on Sunday, should the ban remain in place. However, that may no longer be the case considering this development.
