"Trump Considers Executive Order To Postpone 'TikTok Prohibition Act' Soon After Taking Office"

The Washington Post reported on the 15th that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering suspending the enforcement of a law banning the video platform TikTok shortly after taking office.

According to unnamed sources, Trump is considering issuing an executive order suspending the enforcement of the TikTok ban for 60 to 90 days after taking office.

The TikTok ban will ban TikTok in the U.S. from the 19th unless TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance sells TikTok's U.S. business rights to U.S. companies.

The law passed Congress in April last year amid bipartisan consensus that China could gather sensitive information from Americans or exert undue influence on public opinion through TikTok.

TikTok filed a lawsuit in court, but both the first and second trials ruled there was no problem with the law because national security concerns were justified, and TikTok later filed a provisional injunction with the Supreme Court to urgently suspend enforcement of the law.

Although the Supreme Court has entered the hearing of the TikTok ban, it is widely expected to allow the law to be enforced.

In the meantime, Trump has shown great interest in preventing a TikTok ban.

He tried to ban TikTok during his first presidential term, but he turned against TikTok's exit by actively using it for his campaign during the last presidential campaign and stating that "banning TikTok would anger young people."

At a press conference last month, he said, "I have warm feelings about TikTok in my heart," and he also met with TikTok CEO Chu Shouz.

On the 27th of last month, he submitted an opinion requesting the Supreme Court to suspend the enforcement of the TikTok ban.

However, there are also doubts among experts about the executive order strategy that Trump will invoke to suspend the TikTok ban.

University of Minnesota law professor Alan Rosenstein dismissed the executive order as "not a magical document, just a press release with more wonderful phrases."

"TikTok will still be banned and it will still be illegal for Apple and Google to do business with TikTok," he continued, but added that the president's willingness not to enforce the law will become more formal.

Trump may urge Congress to repeal the TikTok ban, but it is unlikely given that it has been passed with bipartisan consensus in Congress.

Trump may also instruct his nominated attorney general not to enforce the law.

A source said Trump wants to be seen as "making a deal" over TikTok.

Trump aides are said to have offered to sell part of TikTok to U.S. companies to defend the law and take Trump's credit for striking the deal.

Chinese authorities are also considering selling TikTok's business unit in the U.S. to Tesla CEO Elon Musk as an alternative, according to reports.

TikTok, however, dismissed such reports as "complete fiction."

TikTok is said to plan to completely suspend services in the U.S. from the 19th when the ban takes effect.