Then around noon on Sunday, the app worked again.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok,” the company said in a statement.
In practice, the law penalizes app stores, like Apple and Google, and other internet companies, like Oracle, for distributing or updating any TikTok content.
Can President-elect Donald J. Trump reverse the ban?
It is not clear if Mr. Trump can stall the ban under the law, but he has vowed to do so. Mr. Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social on Sunday that he would issue an executive order on Monday that would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”
-He also said that he planned to arrange a deal that would give the United States a 50 percent ownership stake in a new entity involving TikTok, but it was unclear what shape that would take. “Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok,” he wrote. “With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Can he legally do that?
The new law has a provision that says a president can issue a one-time extension of 90 days to the ban, if he or she certifies to Congress that a “qualified divestiture” is underway and that it can take place during that period. But it’s not clear if he can exercise that option now that the law has taken effect. The law was passed by Congress with wide bipartisan support, signed by President Biden and now upheld by the Supreme Court. So to simply subvert it now will raise serious questions.
