That comes after a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday to uphold a federal law banning TikTok unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, Bytedance.
US President Joe Biden won’t enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday.
In a statement, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited timing as the reason responsibility for implementing the law was being passed to the incoming Trump administration.
“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” her statement said.
That comes after a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law banning TikTok on Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company.
The court ruling held that the risk to national security posed by Bytedance’s ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.
In an interview with CNN shortly after the court decision came down, President-elect Donald Trump wouldn’t say what he intended to do.
“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” he said. “Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision.”
Trump also said he had had a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, saying they had “a great talk about TikTok and a great talk about many other subjects.”
Trump had previously said he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” saying that his account on the app helped him tap into a younger voter base to win the 2024 election.
He also recently requested the court delay its judgement so he could look into the case and work out a “political resolution”.
The Trump transition team has not offered details on how Trump plans to carry out his campaign pledge to “save TikTok.”
But spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement in November that he plans to “deliver” on his promise.
But it was Trump who initially spearheaded efforts to have it banned on national security grounds.
In 2020 towards the end of his first presidency, he attempted to ban TikTok with an executive order and pushed for the app to be acquired by Microsoft. In response, TikTok filed a legal challenge against the ban.
Five years later, The Washington Post reported that Trump is reportedly again considering an executive order but this time to allow TikTok to continue operations in the United States until a new owner can be found.
But a sale of TikTok does not appear imminent with parent company Bytedance repeatedly saying it does not plan to sell.
How much is TikTok worth?
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates TikTok is worth “well north of $100 billion (€97 billion)” with the algorithm and potentially up to $200 billion (€194 billion) in a “best case scenario.”
“Without the algorithm it’s $40 billion to $50 billion (€38-48 billion),” Ives said, adding he does not believe that ByteDance and Beijing would sell TikTok with the algorithm.
Attorneys for the TikTok and ByteDance have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically.
They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm, the platform’s secret that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divestiture plan, would turn the US version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content.
US officials warned that the proprietary algorithm is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect.
Who wants to buy TikTok?
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt and his internet advocacy group recently announced it had submitted a proposal to buy the social media site from ByteDance.
Famed Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has also joined the effort.
The group has not disclosed details of the bid.
If a sale occurs, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers said he would plan to restructure TikTok and give more agency to people “over their digital identities and data” by migrating the platform to an open-source protocol that allows for more transparency.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has also taken steps to purchase TikTok.
Shortly after Congress passed the ban, Mnuchin told CNBC he had started creating an investor group that would purchase the popular social media company.
He offered no details about who may be in the group or about TikTok’s possible valuation.
Several other names have been floated as possible buyers including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Restrictions on TikTok
TikTok has already been banned on the personal devices of government employees and civil servants in several European countries including Austria, Estonia, France, Belgium, Norway and the UK.
Similar bans are also in place for government staffers in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2023, Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR, banned its employees from having TikTok installed on their work phones. The BBC issued a similar warning the same year to its staff but it was never enforced.
