TikTok Restores Services after Trump Pledges Extended Deadline for Sale
TikTok went dark for roughly 12 hours over the weekend but restored services Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump pledged to give its China-based parent company extra time to sell the social media platform. Under the text of a law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, must sell the platform or face a ban in the United States. Trump supported such a proposal in his first term. Supporters contend TikTok is a threat to national security.
On Saturday night, TikTok went dark in the U.S., disappearing from app stores and giving users a message reading: "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now."
But the platform's services were restored Sunday after Trump released a statement on Truth Social.
"I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!" Trump wrote. "I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order."
Trump will officially take office at noon Eastern Monday.
"I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture," Trump added. "By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars -- maybe trillions. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."
It is not known if ByteDance will accept Trump's proposal. The executive order presumably will give TikTok a 90-day reprieve as allowed under the law.
The law in question passed with strong bipartisan support -- a rare occurrence for a Congress that has been sharply divided in recent years. A stand-alone ban sailed through the House 352-64 and then passed the Senate, 79-18, as part of a package with unrelated measures. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in a 9-0 ruling.
The law officially took effect Sunday. Several Republican leaders on Sunday said they are not backing down from their support of the law.
"We will enforce the law," Speaker Mike Johnson told NBC's Meet the Press.
Trump, Johnson said, is "going to try to force along a true divestiture, changing of the hands, the ownership."
"It's not the platform that members of Congress are concerned about," Johnson said. "It's the Chinese Communist Party and their manipulation of the algorithms. They have been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages glorifying violence and antisemitism and even suicide and eating disorders.
"And they're mining the data of American citizens," Johnson added. "It's a very dangerous thing. The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend, and we have to make sure this changes hands. …There needs to be a sale of full divestiture from the Chinese Communist Party, and I think President Trump is the one that can make that deal happen."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says Congress “will enforce the law” ensuring that TikTok is completely sold or it will be banned.
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 19, 2025
He says there must be “a full divestiture from the Chinese Communist Party,” not just a 50% sale.
He adds: “It’s not the platform that members of… pic.twitter.com/TRnWS3vWtT
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) issued a statement saying they expect the law to be enforced. Cotton is Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"We commend Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same," Cotton and Ricketts said. "The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it. Now that the law has taken effect, there's no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law's qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok."
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Kayla Bartkowski/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published January 19, 2025.
