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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] There are growing expectations that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will seek to halt the enforcement of the TikTok ban. This move aligns with his campaign promise to "save TikTok," targeting younger voters during his election bid.
On December 12, media outlets including The New York Times (NYT) and AP cited sources suggesting that Trump could stop the U.S. government's TikTok ban after taking office.
According to NYT, Trump’s spokesperson Caroline Rabbitt stated, "The American people overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump, giving him the authority to implement his campaign promises," emphasizing that "Trump will keep his promises."
Trump had previously pledged to oppose the TikTok ban during his election campaign. In a TikTok video in September, he said, "If you want to save TikTok in the U.S., vote for Trump."
In a March interview with CNBC, Trump acknowledged that TikTok posed national security concerns but argued that banning the app would anger younger generations. He also pointed out that banning TikTok could benefit its competitor, Facebook, which he criticized as the "enemy of the people." Trump has continued to criticize Facebook since his loss in the 2020 election.
In April, the U.S. Congress passed a bill requiring TikTok to find a new owner that does not have ties to China by January 19 next year. If the ownership does not change by then, the app will be banned in the U.S.
However, it is expected that completely halting the TikTok ban will be challenging, as it involves major tech companies like Apple and Google, which could face fines for offering TikTok in their app stores.
If the sale process is underway, the president could extend the deadline for 90 days. To fully suspend the ban and sale measures, additional actions, such as advising the Attorney General to exercise discretion in law enforcement, would be required.
Meanwhile, TikTok remains highly popular among young people in the U.S. According to a study by TechCrunch using data from AppFigures, TikTok was the second most downloaded app among U.S. users aged 18-24 from January to October this year, with 33.23 million downloads during that period.
AlphaBIZ Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
