United States President Donald Trump has already postponed the ban on TikTok in the country twice and said he may do so again if a solution is not found by June 19.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" , Trump said that if a deal to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to domestic investors is not reached by the June 19 deadline , he intends to grant another extension.
"Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I have a weakness for TikTok," the US President reportedly said.
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The popular short-video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. In January, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok from operating in the US. TikTok had been in a months-long dispute with the US government (under Joe Biden), which wanted to force ByteDance to sell its US operations to keep TikTok in the country.
ByteDance had appealed to the Court against the ban law, claiming that it violates freedom of speech for the application's users in the US, who exceed 170 million.
During a hearing in January, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the law does not violate the First Amendment because it does not seek to regulate free speech on the platform or its algorithm. The DOJ also argued that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to secretly hand over the data of millions of Americans. According to the government, this was also the main reason for banning or selling TikTok: the risk to national security.
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TikTok did indeed shut down in the US, but it came back up a few hours later. The app was brought back up after new President Donald Trump announced he was givingByteDance a 90-day extension to find a buyer in the country. The new president said that during that time, the government should “determine the appropriate course of action in a way that protects national security while avoiding the abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”
When that deadline expired in April, Trump granted another 75-day extension, underlining that the Chinese government, which must approve any deal, was not particularly positive, mainly due to trade tariffs between the two countries.
The current situation with TikTok highlights the critical issue of national security when it comes to technology. In today’s interconnected world, data and information are constantly being shared across borders. This raises concerns for governments that want to protect the privacy and sensitive information of their citizens from potential threats.
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However, many American creators were disappointed with the TikTok ban. TikTok is a big part of their social and entertainment lives , so a ban would significantly impact their daily lives. In addition, the ban could lead to lost opportunities for influencers and content creators who use the platform to make money.
Source: techcrunch.com
