The US president began threatening the app last March, but now wants to avoid his last day in office being marred by the scandal
US President Joe Biden is exploring ways to keep TikTok operational in the US as a federal law threatens to shut down the short-video app on Sunday, his last day in office, NBC has reported. The campaign against the app, which boasts 170 million daily users in the US, was backed by Biden himself and mandates the sale or shutdown of the popular platform.
The outgoing White House team now wishes to attempt to put the blame on President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to be sworn in on Monday, according to the outlet.
Such a move would be a complete reversal of Biden’s previous efforts to ban TikTok. Last year, he signed legislation requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from its US operations by January 19, 2025. Failure to comply will result in TikTok being removed from US app stores and losing access to essential infrastructure, effectively ending its operations in the country.
“Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday,” an administration official told the outlet, adding that lawmakers are “exploring options” for how to implement the law so TikTok does not go dark.
The law also reportedly grants the president the authority to issue a one-time 90-day extension if “significant progress” has been made toward divestment.
The measure was enacted to address US national security concerns, with lawmakers arguing that users’ data could be accessed by China or that Beijing could manipulate Americans by controlling TikTok’s content. The company has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
TikTok and ByteDance have reportedly sought a delay in the enforcement of the law, arguing that it violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech.
Last week during oral arguments, US Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of TikTok’s free speech claims. During the hearings, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized a finding by Congress that ByteDance is bound by Chinese laws requiring it to assist in intelligence-gathering efforts.
Lawmakers were “not saying TikTok has to stop,” NBC quoted Roberts as saying. “They’re saying China has to stop controlling TikTok.”
TikTok has already devised a plan to “go dark” on Sunday with anonymous sources telling Reuters that American users would see a pop-up message explaining the ban and offering an option to download their data.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump is also reportedly exploring options to delay the ban, including an executive order to extend the compliance deadline by 60 to 90 days to allow more time for negotiations.