The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican), said again this Sunday (19 January 2025) that it will be reactivated in the country. The application was banned because of new federal legislation that forced ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to
“Starting today, TikTok is back,” Trump said at a victory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on the eve of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.
Earlier, the Republican had written on his social network, Truth Social, that he will issue an executive order on the 1st day of the new term to postpone the ban on the application.
After Trump’s publication, TikTok declared that it began to partially restore its operations in the North American country. In the same statement, he thanked the president-elect for “providing the necessary clarity and guarantee” for the resumption of the application.
Here is the full statement published on X:
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing much-needed clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face penalties while providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive. It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”.
TRUMP WANTS NORTH AMERICAN PARTICIPATION
Trump’s plan consists of creating a joint venture with 50% North American participation in control of the application.
“I would like the United States to have a 50% share in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep the app in good hands, and allow it to stay active. Without US approval, there is no TikTok,” Trump said. “With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars — perhaps trillions,” the president-elect said.
Despite criticizing the new legislation, the Trump administration banned the application in the United States in 2020. “I don’t want to get in front of the president [Donald Trump]but [o banimento] It’s something we’re considering,” then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time.
UNDERSTAND THE CASE
The law that prevents the download of TikTok was approved by Congress and sanctioned by the American president, Joe Biden (Democratic Party), in April 2024. The US government defended the ban on the application based on the alleged collection of confidential data from Americans. Americans, which would pose a risk to national security.
The legislation set a deadline of January 19, 2025 for TikTok to sell its operations in the country to a North American buyer. As the negotiation was not sealed, hosting services in the US were banned from working with TikTok.
ByteDance denies accusations of collecting confidential data. The company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, even considered going to the inauguration of US President-elect, Donald Trump, this Monday (Jan. 20).
