This morning we woke up to the confirmation of the TikTok ban in the United States. Shortly after 10:30 pm ET, those who entered the Chinese social network from the North American country found the message ‘Sorry, TikTok is not available at this time‘, in accordance with the entry into force of the ‘Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act’.
It was the chronicle of a death foretoldafter the Chinese platform hit the bone with the Supreme Court when trying to challenge this new legislation approved last year and signed by the outgoing president, Joe Biden, alluding that it goes against the First Amendment.
Nevertheless, everything pointed more to a see you soon than to a definitive goodbye. The reason? The incoming president’s willingness to get TikTok out of this dead end. Donald Trump takes office tomorrow, January 20, but it wasn’t even necessary to wait until tomorrow. It was even faster than the weekend blocking of Telegram in the Spanish state of Judge Pedraz.
TikTok is in the process of restoring service
As TikTok has communicated on its social networks, according to its service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. And they thank the incoming president:
‘We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face sanctions for providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.’
TikTok explains that this measure is ‘a strong stance in favor of the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship‘ and express their willingness to work with President Trump to ‘find a long-term solution that allows TikTok to remain in the United States.’
A few days ago it was Trump himself who, in a telephone interview with NBC, explained that ‘very likely’ he would grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve so that ByteDance has enough time to find a buyer to unblock their dangerous situation in accordance with current regulations.
Of course, the imminent president of the United States dropped that he would make this news public tomorrow, Monday. TikTok has advanced the news mentioning the collaboration of the president-elect offering guarantees to restore service without legal consequences, but it would be normal for Trump to take advantage of his inauguration to speak out on the issue.
Although the situation of TikTok in the United States remains critical, the arrival of Trump to the presidency is a ball of oxygen. In fact, according to The New York Times, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration. A complete declaration of intent the new times of TikTok in North America in the new Trump era.
Portada | Gage Skidmore | Tech Insider
In WorldOfSoftware | The EU has its own way of regulating TikTok, but the US ban could change everything
