Published: 10:30am, 16 Jan 2025Updated: 10:54am, 16 Jan 2025
TikTok plans to shut US operations of its social media app used by 170 million Americans on Sunday, when a federal ban is set to take effect, barring a last-minute reprieve, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The Washington Post reported president-elect Donald Trump, whose term begins a day after a ban would start, was considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days. The newspaper did not say how Trump could legally do so.
The law signed in April mandates a ban on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores if Chinese parent ByteDance fails to divest the site.
Users who have downloaded TikTok would theoretically still be able to use the app, except that the law also bars US companies starting Sunday from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of it.
The Trump transition team did not have an immediate comment. Trump has said he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” of the issue.
“TikTok itself is a fantastic platform,” Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Wednesday. “We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data.”