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Executive Order Delays TikTok Ban For 75 Days 142

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today delaying the TikTok ban for 75 days. The Verge reports: The order, issued on Trump's first day of office, is meant to effectively extend the deadline established by The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for ByteDance to sell its stake by undercutting penalties on American companies like Apple and Google working with TikTok. It directs the Attorney General "not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way." The AG is supposed to "issue a letter to each provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred."

The order furthermore instructs the Department of Justice to "take no action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act" and says they should be barred from doing so "for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period or any period prior to the issuance of this order, including the period of time from January 19, 2025, to the signing of this order."
It remains unclear whether Trump can legally pause the ban. It's also unclear how he plans to enforce a 50 percent "joint venture" ownership with the company, a move he announced on Sunday.

Executive Order Delays TikTok Ban For 75 Days

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  • So...who gets it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sit1963nz ( 934837 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @02:06AM (#65105191)
    Trump, Musk, or Zuckerberg ???
    • by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @02:50AM (#65105237)

      Trump, but not directly.

      I predict TikTok will bend to his will and effectively become a Trump media company without a sale.

      They'll agree to stop sending data to China, some audits n such, and tilt the algorithms in his favor.

      That's my prediction based on the delay and TikTok being invited to the inauguration.

      • Re:So...who gets it (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Freischutz ( 4776131 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @03:20AM (#65105287)

        Trump, but not directly.

        I predict TikTok will bend to his will and effectively become a Trump media company without a sale.

        They'll agree to stop sending data to China, some audits n such, and tilt the algorithms in his favor.

        Will tilt the algorithms in his favour? They are already doing that. Trump thrives on adulation, he will not starve.

        • Trump, but not directly.

          I predict TikTok will bend to his will and effectively become a Trump media company without a sale.

          They'll agree to stop sending data to China, some audits n such, and tilt the algorithms in his favor.

          Will tilt the algorithms in his favour? They are already doing that. Trump thrives on adulation, he will not starve.

          Right. Funny how he made fun of it with very punctual phrases for years and years. Now, he gets info that it actually helped those who voted for him communicate. That means it's a must-have now.

          "Why were we talking about this in the first place? Security? Security of my 'biggest in the world' finances? No? Then SHUT UP. I know more than anyone ever has about this. Get me more praises but don't touch my hair."

      • Trump, but not directly.

        I predict TikTok will bend to his will and effectively become a Trump media company without a sale.

        They'll agree to stop sending data to China, some audits n such, and tilt the algorithms in his favor.

        That's my prediction based on the delay and TikTok being invited to the inauguration.

        All about money and popularity. I can't wait to see them stop sending data back to China. That will be the complete solution of the problem to all those involved.

        Well, except for those who have access to the data and just change the method they send it back to China.

        Money laundering has been a "thing" for so long but needs to be modernized. Not only will the data be sent to a foreign adversary, but will be the first in history to make a new daily-use phrase in the tech industry out of something horrible.

      • They'll agree to stop sending data to China, some audits n such, and tilt the algorithms in his favor.

        I believe ByteDance is still based in China, in which case they can't do that. If CCP wants them to keep sending data back to China, they'll keep sending it back to China or very bad things will happen to the CEO and other senior management. They would have to sell. Maybe Musk will end up buying them.

    • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @02:53AM (#65105243)

      Trump, Musk, or Zuckerberg ???

      If Elon gets it, he'll probably rename it "TiXToX" or "XicXoc" ... :-)

      • If Elon gets it, he'll probably rename it "TiXToX" or "XicXoc" ... :-)

        And if he wants to waste more of his money buying yet another platform I don't use*, more power to him. He'll probably end up ruining it like he did to Twitter, but death by enshitification has become almost an internet tradition at this point.

        * Seriously, even for all the bitching I've done recently about the ban, I don't even have a TikTok account. It's entirely the concept that the US government deplatformed 170 million Americans by attaching the ban as a rider to a foreign aid bill that really trouble

        • Re:So...who gets it (Score:4, Interesting)

          by gtall ( 79522 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @04:43AM (#65105373)

          The only argument I've heard that made sense of a Tik-Tok ban was made (repeated?) by Jimmy Kimmel. The argument is that China plays a long game and youngins using it now will eventually become the people who populate industries and government in years to come, and that China will then have plenty of information on them to use as it sees fit.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

            We keep guns around, devices which are literally intended for killing, because it says so in the constitution. Just like we've learned to live with all the problems caused by guns, we were supposed to either work around or just come to accept the problems inherent to allowing Americans to venture out onto the global internet. That's how freedom works. There is no sensible argument for banning TikTok, only a vain attempt at justifying a loss of freedom.

            "A foreign adversary is going to use their influence

          • Even that is a little insane. I've heard of adults being embarrassed by mass exposure campaigns of stuff they did as kids when, say, it was ridiculously racist or something similar, but even then it's usually only been a "Welp, now I'm humiliated", not "I'm 40 and I lost my job over using the N word when I was 12". The nearest thing I can think of to somewhere where someone did lose their job over something they did when they were younger was James Gunn, and that wasn't "I was 12 at the time, and that was 2

          • "Ah, president Jones, congratulations on your election. It would be a shame if those twerking videos became public, no?"
            "I don't care, twerking is what got me elected, fool!"

      • by Hentes ( 2461350 )

        It would be pretentious to name it after his kid.

      • Trump, Musk, or Zuckerberg ???

        If Elon gets it, he'll probably rename it "TiXToX" or "XicXoc" ... :-)

        It'll just become x.x, the x to the x to get the x in your x.

      • X-X.

    • by CEC-P ( 10248912 )
      Mr Beast is allegedly flying to give a bid offer in person today. Not sure how reliable that headline is but that'd be a nightmare, considering his opinions on protecting pedos.
    • It is most likely Jeff Yass [fortune.com] a billionaire donor to Trump ...

  • by larryjoe ( 135075 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @02:09AM (#65105193)

    Trump's not pausing the ban. He's technically (temporarily) refusing to enforce the ban, which is still in effect. The impact is the same, but the executive branch doesn't have the constitutional power to repeal or pausing the ban, but they can ignore it. The only two responses to this presidential action are that (1) certain parties can sue to force the executive branch to enforce the law (but the executive branch can still refused to obey the court order) and (2) Congress can impeach and remove the President. Neither response is likely.

    • Option 2 is not likely. A "pause" over a social media platform ban is largely trivial matter, a mere 75 day pause is even more trivial. To err on the side of caution and free speech would be to not ban the app. An impeachment process in this moment would likely raise tensions, unnecessarily. The people have raised levels of awareness of "Tide Pod" type challenges, which may reduce the immediacy of concern of lax moderation on a social media platform.

      However, could you provide more clarification on the Cer
      • The due process for the courts to rule that the ban violated constitutional rights like free speech has come and gone. It does not and there is no appeal process to be invoked.

        • It has come and gone, but of what grace should be extended to an international party that may be less familiar with due process? Such allowing that they might get their house in order for a sale.

          I'm trying to imply that the due process may be used as a justification for an extension. I'm not personally convinced it does so, not even sufficiently to ward off a charge of treason leveled against Trump on his first day in office.
          • All interested parties had the time and ability to hire the best lawyers they could and fully participate in the legal process. They did and it is over. Either their arguments or their money was unpersuasive.

            • Irrelevant. My focus is on the disregard for the rule of law, of sending an Executive Order of pausing a law for 75 days. I don't care one iota about tiktok one way or the other, TikTok is a trivial irrelevant red herring element to the discussion.

              The President of the United States of America (POTUS) is entirely the central focus, and on whether he has the authority, and diplomatic urgency, to issue leniency towards an international company, or shall it be established here and now that it was done by ove
              • The law in question grants the President the ability to delay inactment by up to 90 days, after going into enforcement 180 days after the law was signed by Biden. The law is being followed. They already had 6 months and fucked around. Now they get 2 more months I guess.

          • Nobody can be charged with treason right now. The US is not at war.

            The Constitution defines treason explicitly, as levying war against the US, or giving aid and comfort to its enemies. Constitutional scholars generally agree that an "enemy" in this context is a party you're formally at war against.

          • Due process like the Supreme Court saying that forced divestiture or shutdown is legal in a 9-0 decision?

            That kind of due process?

            They had the entire time Congress was working on the bill. They had the time to get their shit in order when the bill passed the House. They had time to get their shit in order when it passed the Senate. And then they had time to get their shit in order after Biden signed it.

            They actively refused offers. How much more "due process" do you figure they're due when this has been

    • The impact is the same, but the executive branch doesn't have the constitutional power to repeal or pausing the ban, but they can ignore it.

      Do they though? I read some extensive analysis on this beforehand and the consensus legal opinion seemed to be that the delay of a ban can only come prior to it going into effect.

      i.e.: Congress signs law, then you have the following options:
      President Vetos - law doesn't go into effect.
      President does nothing - law goes into effect on the day listed in legislation
      President delays before law is in effect - delay is valid and still within the power of the executive branch.
      President delays after law is in effect

      • That is the start of a basis for impeachment under the charge of treason.

        The disorder of not knowing whether a law is in effect or not in effect, and the potential liability either way is disorder amounting to treason of the oath of office.
        • It may be grounds for impeachment, but it isn't treason. The US Constitution defines treason as

          "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."

          • They missed a definition in my assessment. Whether legally defined in the U.S. Constitution or not, I say treason.
            • So you don't agree with the Constitution. Good luck with that.

              Per my post above, nobody can be charged with treason right now, because the US is not at war with anyone.

              I'm not sure anymore what the remedy is for a president who ignores laws. But it isn't a charge of treason.

            • Oh well because YOU say so, let's just disregard the Constitution then.

              I'll bet you would scream bloody murder if Trump's goons used the same line of thinking and justification for their bullshit. Oh wait, they do.

    • I mean, it's doubtful it would even make it onto a lower court's docket by the time the 75 days is up even were a lawsuit filed today.

    • Trump's not pausing the ban. He's technically (temporarily) refusing to enforce the ban, which is still in effect.

      Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

      • Not really.

        Anyone who doesn't comport with the law is risking being prosecuted by the next administration. The law stipulates a five year statute of limitations which means that the following administration would have the option of retroactively prosecuting anyone who doesn't comply now.

        This is, presumably, why Google and Apple are still keeping the app from their app stores. The penalty for not complying is quite severe ($5000/infraction) and no responsible company is going to want to risk that without an

    • Success. Misinterpreted or ignored by 90% of the 'users' of that stupid "service" who are now feeling like he's Elvis. As long as it makes him look good to himself (and/or look good to others who then make him look good to himself), the actual root of the issue is completely irrelevant.

    • I don't think that AppStores will ignore the law since there is a 5 year tail built into the law which means that they could be prosecuted by the next administration.

    • by Dusanyu ( 675778 )
      You are aware that the ADL who watchdogs this Dort of thing has stated that it was not a nazi salute https://x.com/ADL/status/18814... [x.com] It was just some autistic billionaire missing optics.
  • watching dancing and cat vidoes. Have you ended the war in Ukraine yet?
  • It remains unclear whether Trump can legally pause the ban. It's also unclear how he plans to enforce a 50 percent "joint venture" ownership with the company, a move he announced on Sunday.

    Trump is the God Emperor, his word is law.

  • What this means is the convicted felon is making sure the money is securely in his offshore account before removing the ban entirely. This is just to give the company time to get things in order.

    In the meantime, censorship on TikTok has already started [msn.com]. There are certain words and phrases you can no longer use and searching for them brings back no results.

    All part of the deal.
    • Who knows? Trump may very well be trying to profit from this issue. But he can't just remove the ban-or-sell law. That was passed by a previous Congress with bipartisan votes, signed into law by the previous POTUS, and affirmed by all nine SCOTUS justices.

      The only way to remove the ban-or-sell law would be to pass a new law. POTUS can't do that.

      • That doesn't mean he's not going to blow smoke up their ass and try to grift a few million dollars out of them. Just go buy one of his newly minted shitcoins and wait for him to rugpull his 80% stake.

        • Yeah, Trump could say to TikTok: "I can make the ban go away if you buy [X amount] $TRUMP." But how does he deliver? He can't un-make laws. That would require Congress to pass a new law that undoes the earlier one.

          Sure, both houses in Congress are his bitch right now. Quite likely they'll do whatever he says. But it's not guaranteed.

  • It can't, legally. Lots of headlines like this giving him support tho.

  • Trumpâ(TM)s who! Just like Sleepy Joe.

  • We miss ye!

Use the Force, Luke.

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