Topline

A bipartisan pair of senators called on President Joe Biden to delay the effective date of the federal ban on TikTok because the popular app could disappear from US app stores in a month if the Supreme Court upholds the ban law – but it is unclear whether Biden will He actually has the legal authority to delay the ban, and that move could be challenged in court if he tries.

Important facts

Will the Tiktok ban come into effect on January 19th?

The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment on Markey and Paul’s letter, and it is unclear whether Biden would actually be willing to impose the 90-day delay, given that he signed the ban into law and his Justice Department defended it Court. In its current form, the law is scheduled to take effect on January 19 unless the Supreme Court decides to strike it down before then or puts the law on hold during deliberations. If the ban goes into effect on January 19th, Trump could step in and impose a 90-day delay once he takes office on January 20th. However, he has not yet announced any plans to do so, and that would still involve the same legal issues Biden is delaying if TikTok is still not in the process of separating from ByteDance.

Will Bytedance sell Tiktok?

TikTok has so far rejected any possibility of separating from ByteDance, saying in court that filing the move was “not technically, commercially or legally possible.” It remains to be seen whether the company will stick to this position if the Supreme Court upholds the law, or whether it will decide to find a new US owner in light of the ban actually taking effect. While ByteDance has also previously resisted selling TikTok, James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR: China may be more willing to negotiate with Trump in return for a sale of TikTok Trump withdraws his threat of high tariffs on Chinese imports.

Why are Markey and Paul against the ban?

Markey and Paul are in the minority in Congress when it comes to their opposition to the TikTok ban, as the ban passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives by a vote of 352-65, with numerous senators supporting it. (The bill was passed by the Senate as part of a broader spending bill, so while it passed by a vote of 79-18, senators didn’t just vote on the TikTok provisions.) Markey has long opposed the TikTok ban and has spoken out in the Senate opposed the bill, which was passed before it passed, saying that while it could mitigate national security issues, “it could and probably will also lead to widespread censorship.” The lawmaker said he was “not addressing Defense of TikTok, but in defense of TikTok users,” warned lawmakers to be aware of the risks of the ban and argued, “Instead of protecting people online, we are censoring their speech.” Paul has also come out strongly against a TikTok banned. He warned in 2023 that a ban on the app could turn off young voters and claimed in March that the ban made “no sense at all.” “TikTok is banned in China,” Paul said in an interview with NewsNation. “People who want to ban it think: Wow, we’re really going to defeat the Chinese communists by becoming Chinese authoritarians and banning it in our country?”

Cons

As Markey and Paul try to prevent the TikTok ban from taking effect, other lawmakers are tightening the policy and reminding companies to follow it. House Special Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, sent letters last week to the CEOs of Apple, Google and TikTok pointing out that The law is set to take effect on January 19, reminding them they must “take the necessary steps to ensure that (their businesses) can fully comply with the ban.” “Congress has acted decisively to defend the national security of the United States and protect American users of TikTok from the Chinese Communist Party,” Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi wrote in their letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. “We urge TikTok to immediately pursue a qualified divestiture.”

Important background

Biden signed the TikTok ban into law in April, with the law reflecting longstanding concerns among lawmakers on both sides about national security issues related to the app and ByteDance’s ties to China. TikTok has long denied any wrongdoing or ties to the Chinese government, but Forbes has reported on a number of concerns involving the company, including TikTok spying on journalists, promoting Chinese propaganda criticizing U.S. politicians, mishandling User data and tracking “sensitive” words. The law orders companies to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores or face financial penalties, and says internet service providers also cannot enable distribution, which TikTok says “disrupts the services that enable the TikTok platform to function.” “and would effectively shut down TikTok” in the United States.” TikTok and the app’s creators challenged the law in court days after its passage, arguing that it violated their First Amendment rights. The federal government claimed the move was necessary for national security, and a panel of federal appeals court judges agreed. The court upheld the law, concluding that it did not violate TikTok’s First Amendment rights because all content on the platform could remain if the company simply separated from ByteDance. TikTok appealed the case to the Supreme Court on Monday after the appeals court said it would not pause the law while TikTok appealed, and the justices quickly decided to accept the case and hear it on January 10.

Further reading

ForbesThe Supreme Court will decide the fate of the TikTok ban as the justices take over the caseFrom Alison Durkee
ForbesTikTok ban upheld in courtFrom Alison Durkee
ForbesCongress warns Apple and Google that they must ban TikTok in JanuaryFrom Emily Baker White
ForbesWill the US ban TikTok? Here’s the latest – and what we knowFrom Antonio Pequeno IV