Washington, Feb 13 (EFE).- TikTok returned to the Apple and Google mobile app stores in the US after President Donald Trump delayed a ban on the popular social media platform.
On Jan. 21, a day after taking office, Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of a ban imposed by the previous Joe Biden istration by 75 days.
His order directed the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Justice not to apply for the next 75 days, sanctions or measures complying with legislations approved under the mandate of Joe Biden, who left their enforcement in the hands of the incoming istration.
On Thursday, Trump opened the door to extending the deadline that TikTok has to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, if it does not want to be shut down in the US.
“I’m sure it can be extended. But let’s see. I don’t think you’ll need to,” Trump said when asked by the reporters in the Oval Office, noting that a lot of people were interested in acquiring the social media company.
The short video app stopped operating for a few hours in the US since the law came into force the day before the Republican assumed office.
The legislation, approved in April 2024 for national security reasons with the of both Democrats and Republicans, gave ByteDance a nine-month deadline to sell its operations in the US to a buyer who was not considered an “adversary” of the country.
A few days ago, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Treasury and Commerce departments to create a “sovereign wealth fund” that could acquire the platform.
The president also said that US tech giant Microsoft was in talks to acquire TikTok. EFE
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