NBC News said TikTok may be granted a reprieve from blocking in the U.S.
US President-elect Donald Trump may grant Chinese social network TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a possible ban in the country after his inauguration. He told NBC News on January 18.
"I think that would certainly be an option that we would consider. A 90-day extension is something that would probably be done because it's appropriate. You know, it's appropriate. We have to consider it carefully. It's a very serious situation," Trump said.
He said he had not yet made a final decision.
"If I decide to do it, I will probably announce it on Monday," the American president-elect added.
Earlier, on January 17, Trump told CNN that he himself plans to make a decision on TikTok in the United States. At the same time, he refused to answer specifically whether he would take any measures to repeal the law banning the social network, adopted under the current President Joe Biden. At the same time, the American president-elect said that he had called Chinese President Xi Jinping and, among other things, discussed TikTok with him.
On January 16, Politico reported that TikTok will sponsor a party to celebrate Trump's inauguration. The social network may spend $50,000 on the event "to honor the influencers who helped Trump spread his campaign message." The party is scheduled for January 19, the day ByteDance is preparing to shut down its TikTok app in the United States.
Biden signed legislation to ban the social network on April 24, 2024. Senators in Congress then approved the measure by an overwhelming majority because they believed the Chinese government could secretly spy on U.S. citizens through the app.
TikTok, for its part, said it would defend its rights to operate in the U.S. in court and banning it would "destroy 7 million companies and disenfranchise 170 million Americans."
Later, on December 28, Trump filed a petition with the Supreme Court to suspend the law threatening to ban the TikTok social network. The president-elect does not have a firm position on the constitutionality of the law, but Trump believes the social network's regulation raises "widespread and troubling" concerns about the fate of free speech.
