What if the United States was less protectionist than expected? The video sharing application TikTok, very popular on the Apple App Store, is facing a complex situation in the country. While a ban is planned for early 2025, President-elect Donald Trump could well change the situation according to recent information.
A spectacular turnaround from Trump on TikTok
Donald Trump’s position regarding TikTok has evolved considerably since his first term. In 2020, he signed an executive order calling the app a “national security threat” amid concerns that China could use it to spy on American citizens. Today, the president-elect is taking a radically different position, even promising to “save TikTok” during his campaign.
This new approach can be explained in particular by Trump’s success on the platform, where he now has more than 14 million subscribers. Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump adviser and now a spokesperson for TikTok, says there are “many ways to hold China accountable without alienating 180 million monthly U.S. users.”
THE Washington Post explain :
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to try to prevent a possible ban on TikTok in the United States next year, after promising during his election campaign to save the popular social media app if he wins, according to people familiar with his opinions on the matter. The video-sharing app faces a January deadline to find a new owner who isn’t based in China or risk losing access to U.S. users, under a law passed in April with bipartisan support.
Tricky timing and limited options
The situation is all the more complex as the current law, called “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, requires ByteDance (owner of TikTok) to sell its American activities before January 19, 2025, the day before the Trump’s inauguration. For Apple and other application stores, the situation is particularly delicate. As Alan Rozenshtein, former national security adviser at the Department of Justice, points out, tech giants may be hesitant to keep TikTok on their platforms simply based on a presidential statement, fearing legal repercussions. Trump has several options to prevent banning:
- Push Congress to repeal the law
- Ask your attorney general not to apply it
- Agreeing to “Project Texas,” a proposal from ByteDance offering the U.S. government increased control over TikTok’s U.S. operations
Public support for banning TikTok has eroded considerably, falling from 50% to 32% between 2023 and 2024 according to the Pew Research Center. A trend which could reinforce Trump in his desire to preserve the application on American territory. For Apple and other tech players, there remains complete uncertainty about the future of TikTok on their respective platforms.
The problem is no solution for the application stores. By removing the application, Apple would put itself in difficulty with the new Trump administration even though the company respects the law. By leaving it on the App Store, she would be making an illegal choice which could be heavily sanctioned by the courts. There doesn’t seem to be any good solution.
