 "A woman poses with her smartphone displaying the @realdonaldtrump TikTok page, in Washington, US January 19, 2025. Source: Reuters.")
Following up on his promise, Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday hours after taking oath as the 47th US president to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days.
The order directed the US justice department not to enforce the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on TikTok. The Act imposes a ban on TikTok in the US unless it is sold to a buyer from America or an allied country. This law was signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2023 and was set to take effect on January 19, 2024.
“I am instructing the attorney general not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” the executive order read.
Earlier on the eve of his inauguration, he announced plans to issue an executive order suspending the nationwide ban on TikTok
TikTok was banned in the US on January 19 under the law requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its US operations. TikTok was down for about 14 hours from Saturday night before restoring services on Sunday afternoon.
Before his inauguration, Trump emphasised that the “United States should hold a 50 per cent ownership stake in a joint venture with TikTok”.
However, Trump’s executive order delayed the ban by 75 days, giving TikTok more time.
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