Update: TikTok may be getting a last-minute reprieve as President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday morning he would “possibly” give the app a 90-day extension to avoid a ban. Trump spoke by phone with NBC News moderator Kristen Welker on Saturday morning. However, Trump did say that he is yet to take a final decision. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” the president-elect said.
The basic story is as follows:
The TikTok saga is about to end. With over 170 million monthly users in the US, the short-form video platform became one of the most popular apps in the US, however, US lawmakers were concerned that the Chinese company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, was collecting users’ personal data. Was getting it done. Especially children, and handing it over to the CCP. Another concern expressed by US lawmakers was that the app gave the Chinese government a way to spread propaganda among children and teenagers in the states.
“TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, as well as the vast troves of sensitive data collected by the platform, justify differential treatment to address the government’s national security concerns.”-US Supreme Court
Since Musk appears more willing to help Trump if needed, this would be a perfect time for Elon to get involved. Even if Musk simply says he’s interested in TikTok and has a serious relationship with ByteDance, that could be enough to trigger a provision in the law that calls for a 90-day delay in pulling the plug on the app. . TikTok may prove it is working on a deal that would result in ByteDance giving up ownership of TikTok. There must also be “evidence of significant progress” towards the sale and this progress must be sealed with “relevant binding legal agreements”.
TikTok posted a tweet with its latest statement. , Image Credit-X
On Friday, TikTok posted a statement saying the Biden administration and the DOJ “failed to provide necessary clarity and assurances to service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to more than 170 million Americans.” TikTok further said, “Unless the Biden administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, TikTok will, unfortunately, be forced to go dark on January 19.” Will go.”
