TikTok Photo: VCG
US President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in a phone interview Saturday that he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the US after he takes office Monday.
On Friday,
MKS sports local time, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of a ban on short video social media platform TikTok in the US. The TikTok app will be removed in the US as early as Sunday local time.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in the phone interview, according to NBC News.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” Trump said.
In the wake of the ruling Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”
“The statements issued by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” according to a statement TikTok sent to the Global Times on Saturday.
Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19, the company said.
In direct reaction to the US Supreme Court's decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said on Friday that "we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives" for the years to come. Chew noted in a video that the company and its users “have been fighting to protect the constitutional right to free speech for the more than 170 million Americans” who use the popular platform every day, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Global Times