Trump delays TikTok ban for 75 days

President Donald Trump has signed an government order to briefly delay the U.S. TikTok ban, directing the Division of Justice to carry off on implementing the controversial legislation for 75 days. This does not imply TikTok has been saved, although.

Trump swiftly signed a slew of government orders mere hours after his second inauguration as U.S. president on Monday, declaring a nationwide emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, abolishing the federal authorities’s variety initiatives, and formally creating the Elon Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity (“DOGE”).

Amongst these was Trump’s promised government order concerning the Defending Individuals From International Adversary Managed Functions Act (PAFACA), often known as the U.S. TikTok ban. In it, Trump directed the Division of Justice to not implement the ban for 2 and a half months, permitting TikTok to briefly proceed working within the U.S. with out reprisal.

“I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” learn Trump’s government order.

The delay means the ban will now come into pressure on April 5, with Trump stating that he intends to “negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns” within the interim. The brand new U.S. president beforehand expressed a perception that he’d give you the chance to take action final December, submitting an amicus transient to the Supreme Court docket requesting that it pause TikTok’s ban on this foundation.

It is unclear precisely how Trump plans to dealer such a deal. Until PAFACA is repealed, a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations can be the one means the app may legally stay within the nation. TikTok’s mother or father firm ByteDance has given no indication that it could be prepared to entertain this, persistently sustaining that such divestment is “technologically, commercially, and legally infeasible.”

Trump could try to repeal the laws, nonetheless doing so will take a major period of time — possible for much longer than TikTok’s 75-day keep of execution. As such, U.S. customers may very effectively discover themselves minimize off from TikTok as soon as extra come April.

TikTok ban continues to be legislation, however enforcement has been paused

To be clear, Trump’s government order does not really make it authorized for TikTok to stay within the U.S. past the ban’s Jan. 19 deadline. PAFACA continues to be in place, and TikTok is technically nonetheless banned even throughout this 75-day grace interval. 

Fairly, Trump has merely instructed that no penalties be imposed upon TikTok or different impacted apps beneath this legislation for his or her actions between the time it got here into impact to 75 days from his government order. He additional ordered that letters be despatched to affected entities telling them that working throughout this time is not going to violate the legislation or incur liabilities.

“[E]ven after the expiration of the above-specified period, the Department of Justice shall not take any action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period or any period prior to the issuance of this order, including the period of time from January 19, 2025, to the signing of this order,” learn Trump’s government order.

If the ban had been enforced, TikTok might be fined as much as $5,000 per U.S. person. At 170 million such customers, can be a penalty of roughly $850 billion — virtually thrice ByteDance’s valuation final November.

With its Supreme Court docket attraction having been rejected final week, TikTok now appears to have little selection however to relaxation its hopes for a continued U.S. presence on Trump. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was considered one of a number of tech CEOs who attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday, having thanked the brand new U.S. president for his help.

Trump’s self-proclaimed “warm spot” for TikTok is comparatively new, the president having beforehand issued an government order banning the app in 2020 throughout his first time period in workplace. He subsequently appeared to lose curiosity within the ban, which was by no means enforced earlier than Biden dropped it a yr later. Now Trump appears to have modified his thoughts about TikTok, musing final December that “maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while.” Apparently the tens of millions of views his movies have amassed went a good distance towards profitable him over.