Government Tries to Backtrack on TikTok Ban
If you’ve been on TikTok in the last few days, you’ve no doubt witnessed your favorite creators saying goodbye and telling you where you can find them next. With a looming ban on the social media app set to take effect in the US on Sunday, it appears there is little the platform’s users can do other than wait and hope that the Supreme Court, which heard arguments from both TikTok’s lawyers and the Ministry justice on this matter. Friday, confusing.
However, now that TikTok is threatening to shut down completely (even though the ban would simply prevent it from appearing in app stores, the company has proposed pursuing the nuclear option) and Americans are running to another Chinese app as an act of protest to replace it, various government officials independent of the Supreme Court , are seeking to change course.
From the outside it all looks like a big game of chicken. First, the US government, in an effort to either protect your data and national security (as it claims) or simply pump up the US tech industry by disrupting a popular Chinese-backed platform, has demanded that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance sell the service to an American company. Then ByteDance, not wanting to lose its cash cow, called the US bluff and refused to sell. Now US TikTokers are showing their reluctance to use homegrown replacements like Instagram Reels , leaving the government with few options: it can push for a ban and hope the public or ByteDance gets behind it, or it can try to salvage the situation and delay or reverse the ban to further not to upset voters or push them into the arms of other Chinese apps.
While it’s too early to predict exactly what will happen, several key power players are trying to avoid Sunday’s close.
Biden and Trump have changed their position
One of the most surprising people who is said to be changing his mind about the TikTok ban is President Biden, who signed the bill into law with just days left in his term. Speaking to NBC News, “three people familiar with the discussions” noted that the Biden administration is currently working on how to prevent TikTok from going dark on Sunday.
“Americans should not expect TikTok to suddenly be banned on Sunday,” an administration official told the outlet, saying Biden’s team is “exploring options” to ensure that doesn’t happen when the law takes effect on Jan. 19. is a bit vague (of course, the ban is exactly what we expected), but a White House spokesperson clarified that the options being considered would not include delaying the ban because the administration “does not believe we have the authority to do so.” New President Trump now also opposes the ban, but may be less reluctant to act. The Washington Post reports that Trump is considering signing an executive order that would delay the ban by 60 to 90 days. Such an extreme measure may be Trump’s only game here, as the ban is set to take effect the day before he takes office. Trump’s stance marks a similar change in attitude to President Biden’s: During his first term, Trump signed an executive order that attempted to force TikTok to cease operations in the US, something the company avoided by partnering with US company Oracle to protect US user data.
TikTok Rescue Bill (for now)
In fact, the most sustainable way to get the ban overturned, short of the Supreme Court, would be for the members of Congress who voted for it to change their minds. The biggest government overturn we’ve ever seen on a TikTok ban (or at least the biggest that doesn’t rely on rumors and anonymous sources) will be Democratic Senator Ed Markey’s new bill . Markey’s bill introduced this week would extend the ban by 270 days, giving TikTok more time to find a buyer or giving lawmakers a chance to re-evaluate the situation.
“In four days, TikTok will go dark,” Markey said as he introduced the legislation. “My bill just says we need more time.”
In his justification for the bill, Markey argued that TikTok is “central to our economy and the way we communicate,” arguing that the communities created there by its creators and small businesses “cannot be replicated on another app.”
“We need time to have a deeper conversation about how to address the national security risks posed by Bytedance’s ownership of TikTok.” Marky continued. “We need time to understand the implications of the ban on TikTok creators and users.”
Perhaps most interesting to those opposed to the ban, Markey also added, “We need time to consider alternative ideas,” hinting at a future in which Congress abandons the ban ideas entirely.
The bill also marks a bit of a change of heart on the part of Markey, who initially opposed the platform ban but nonetheless voted in favor of the current ban —though it should be noted that the ban was included in a bill that also provided aid to Ukraine and Israel. .
For his part, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to continue “working to save TikTok.”
Support for the ban remains
Any legislative action to prevent the shutdown would need to be taken quickly, assuming the Supreme Court upholds the ban, but while both the executive and legislative branches of government are considering abandoning the ban across party lines, some in government are sticking to their original decision.
“They had all the time in the world,” said Republican Sen. Rick Scott. “They had the opportunity to sell it to make sure the Chinese government didn’t control it, but they decided not to.”
For now, all eyes remain on the Supreme Court. However, even if the judiciary upholds the ban, it looks like the game of chicken could ultimately end with TikTok continuing to operate as usual, and without a third party like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta or Microsoft holding the reins.
While we wait to see how things play out, I’ll join the chorus and say they’d rather learn Mandarin than watch an Instagram video .