According to a U.S. official, President JoeBiden has decided not to enforce a ban on TikTok, effectively leaving the fate of the app to President-elect DonaldTrump.
As reported by apnews, the outgoing administration plans to delegate the implementation of the law to Trump. A White House official stated to abcnews, “Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before the inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.”
ShouZiChew, the CEO of TikTok, is expected to attend the inauguration following his meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Chew will also have a prime seating location on the dais as the president-elect’s national security adviser, raising hopes that he may be able to prevent the app from being banned.
However, reports from ABC News indicate that even if Trump chooses not to enforce the ban, tech companies could still be liable, with the Justice Department able to pursue fines of up to $5,000 per user as long as TikTok remains owned by ByteDance.
At one point, Trump considered banning the app but has since pledged to keep it available in the U.S., although no details on how this will be accomplished have been released.
