A deal to sell the widely popular platform remains a work in progress.
President Trump on Friday said he would sign another executive order to delay enforcement of a law that effectively bans TikTok, amid talks about a possible deal to sell the widely popular platform.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order on his first day directing the Justice Department to not enforce the ban for 75 days. The order instructed the Justice Department to not take action or impose penalties against « any entity for any noncompliance. » The executive order expires Saturday, April 5.
Mr. Trump said Friday he wouldn’t enforce the law for at least another 75 days.
« My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed », the president wrote. « We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. »
Under a bipartisan law passed last year, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, originally had until Jan. 19 to divest from TikTok or be cut off from U.S. app stores and hosting services.
TikTok briefly and voluntarily shut down before the January deadline, but reinstated access to U.S. users after Mr. Trump, who took office one day after the deadline, vowed to take action.
Apple and Google did not restore TikTok to their U.S. app stores for nearly a month after Mr. Trump issued the first directive.
Even though Mr. Trump has declined to enforce the ban, the law is still on the books, and companies like Apple and Google could be penalized down the road for violations. But the law provides the authority for the restrictions to be lifted on TikTok in the event of a sale.
