WASHINGTON — The Biden administration won’t enforce a ban on the popular social media app TikTok, which is set to take effect on January 19, and instead leave the decision to President-elect Donald Trump.
While Biden’s decision means the app won’t go dark on Sunday, TikTok could still decide to shut itself down that day in an attempt to send a message of the impact to the 170 million people it says use the app each month.
“Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,” a White House official told Fwrd Axis News in a statement.
Last year, Congress required that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sell the app to an American company by January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration. The official said the outgoing Biden administration was leaving the decision to implement the law — and the potential enforcement of the ban — to Trump.
Here’s how the law works: TikTok is not required to go dark on January 19. The app stores along with the internet hosting services that could be fined if they keep providing their services to TikTok. The law gives the Justice Department the power to pursue fines of up to $5,000 per user, a massive liability due to the app’s popularity with younger Americans.
No matter if Biden or Trump decide to not enforce the ban, tech companies will still be fined as long as TikTok continues to be owned by ByteDance. Apple, Google and Oracle have not made their decisions known on how it will proceed beyond Sunday.
Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — which the TikTok law was tied into the bill — last year as part of the $95 billion foreign aid package.
Trump, who once supported banning the app, has since pledged to keep it available in the U.S., though his team has not said how they intend to do that.
The president-elect met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club last month and he plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, sources told Fwrd Axis News.

