Trump and Biden Battling to Be the Hero Who Saves TikTok
A congressional ban on the popular video app takes effect Sunday.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
Presidential rivals Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both racing to circumvent a law banning TikTok from this Sunday if it remains under Chinese ownership.
Biden’s team is exploring ways to implement the law without immediately shutting down the popular video app, administration officials told NBC News. Trump, meanwhile, is also preparing to intervene keep the app online, his incoming national security adviser, Mike Walz, told Fox News.
Both Biden and Trump originally supported the ban, but now, neither appear keen to incur the wrath of TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users as the clock ticks down. If Biden’s team can’t find a workaround, his last full day in office could be defined not by the ceasefire in Gaza but by TikTok going dark.
“Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday,” a Biden administration official told NBC.
Congress passed a law in April saying that, for national security reasons, TikTok either needed to change ownership or stop operating in the U.S. Its parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing, where domestic law requires it to assist with Chinese intelligence-gathering.
The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments that the ban violates the First Amendment and could rule on the issue at any time. Last month, Trump asked the court to hold off on implementing part of the ban until he can take office and negotiate a solution.
U.S.-based billionaires are reportedly salivating over the chance to acquire the app. And Americans have made it clear that if TikTok isn’t an option, they’ll just switch over to the rival Chinese app Red Note, which is subject not just to intelligence-gathering but also Chinese state censorship.
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