Could Donald Trump ‘save TikTok’ from a potential ban in the US?

TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline amid a legal battle about its future in the US by the man who was once its biggest foe, Donald Trump.

The US president-elect, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the app.

For months, TikTok, and its China-based parent company ByteDance, have been in a legal battle with the US over a new law that forces them to cut ties for national security reasons or stop operating in one of their biggest markets in the world.

The measure, signed by President Joe Biden in April, gives ByteDance nine months to divest its stakes, with a possible three-month extension if a sale was in progress.

If that happens, the deadline could be extended into the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

The companies have claimed that divestiture is not possible, and the law, if upheld, would force them to shut down by January 19.

Attorneys for both sides have asked a federal appeals court reviewing the case to issue a ruling by December 6.

The losing side is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and could decide to take up the case, potentially dragging out the process even longer.

‘He will deliver’

When reached for comment, the Trump transition team did not offer details on how Trump plans to carry out his pledge to “save TikTok,” as he said on a Truth Social post in September while encouraging people who care about the platform to vote for him.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the transition team, indicated in a statement that he plans to see it through.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt said. “He will deliver,” she added.

During a March interview with CNBC, Trump said he still believed TikTok posed a national security risk but opposed banning it because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he has continued to lambast over his 2020 election loss.

If the courts uphold the law, it would fall on Trump’s Justice Department to enforce it and punish any potential violations with fines.

The fines would apply to app stores that would be prohibited from offering TikTok, and internet hosting services that would be barred from supporting it.

Can Trump prevent TikTok’s ban?

Leah Plunkett, a lecturer at Harvard Law School, said from her reading of the statute, the attorney general has to investigate violations but can decide whether or not to drag such companies to court and force them to comply.

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Trump could do other things to prevent TikTok from disappearing.

He could issue an executive order to nullify the ban, which Plunkett believes would not be lawful, or urge Congress to repeal the law.

That would require support from Congressional Republicans who have aligned themselves with Trump but have also supported the prospects of getting TikTok out of the hands of a Chinese company.

In a statement sent to the AP after the election, Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said Trump’s “long-standing concerns” about TikTok align with the law’s requirement for divestment.

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“The Trump Administration will have a unique opportunity to broker an American takeover of the platform,” he said.

ByteDance, though, has previously said it has no intention to sell the platform despite interest from some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, said it’s also possible that Trump could take the issue back to the drawing board and direct his administration to negotiate a new deal with TikTok.

Trump hasn’t been privy to new intelligence material on the matter for a few years and it’s possible he could change his mind – and abandon his campaign promise – once he does, Kreps said.

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Plunkett said if she were counselling TikTok, she would advise them to come up with a divesture plan that is compliant with the law and as favourable to them as possible.

“There is too much uncertainty about what a Trump administration is likely to do,” she said.