Donald Trump has requested the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the sale or ban of TikTok, seeking a political solution first. Concerns have arisen over potential Chinese influence or espionage through the app.
In April, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, to sell the platform to a U.S. company; failing this, the app would be banned from January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration. During his campaign, Trump had significant engagement on TikTok, a platform popular among youth.
This month, he discussed keeping TikTok available in the U.S. with its director. In 2020, during his first term as president, Trump initially supported a ban, leading to a brief removal from app stores until a judge intervened.
The ban would also impact Dutch users, as many TikTok videos are made by American users. TikTok’s legal efforts to prevent the ban have been unsuccessful, and Supreme Court hearings are scheduled for January 10.
Source: NOS