Tiktok begins to restore the service in the US
Washington – Tiktok began to restore service to users in the United States after a temporary and voluntary closure that lasted less than a day. The company said Sunday that it was in the process of restoring access after the president -elect Donald Trump promised to try to suspend the prohibition through an executive order on his first day in office.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and security to our service providers that they will not face sanctions when providing Tiktok to more than 170 million Americans and allow more than 7 million small businesses to prosper,” Tiktok said in a release. “It is a firm position in favor of the first amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump in a long -term solution that keeps Tiktok in the United States.”
Tiktok voluntarily closed the service in the US. Uu. Just a few hours before the deadline of Sunday, cutting access to dozens of millions of users after the Supreme Court this week. He maintained a law that effectively prohibited him from concerns about his links with China.
The law approved by Congress last year gave Bytedance, the Matrix of Tiktok based in China, until January 19 to uninform in Tiktok or be isolated from the stores of application and accommodation services in the United States. Tiktok said the sale was not possible and questioned the law in court, but was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Trump published Sunday on social networks that Tiktok would restore, first writing “Save Tiktok” and then promising to issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law enters into force. In addition, he said there would be no responsibility for companies that helped prevent Tiktok from disappearing before the order would enter into force.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” he wrote. “I would like the United States to have a 50% participation in a joint business. In doing so, we save Tiktok, we keep it in good hands and allow him to speak. Without the approval of the United States, there is no Tik Tok. With” with our Approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe Billones. “
The decision of the Supreme Court said that Disversion or prohibition law It does not violate Tiktok’s freedom of expression or its 170 million users in the US, coinciding with the government’s position that China could use the platform to collect a large amount of sensitive information about Americans.
Andy Bao/AP
While the Biden administration said the application of the law would be in the hands of the incoming administration of Trump, the company itself disconnected shortly before the midnight deadline on Sunday.
Users in the US who opened the application on Saturday night were received with a message with the title: “We felt it, Tiktok is not available at this time.”
“In the United States, a law has been promulgated that prohibits Tiktok,” reads the message. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use Tiktok for now. We are lucky that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us in a solution to restore Tiktok once he assumes the position. They are attentive!”
The application was not available at Apple or Google Play stores.
The next Trump National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, said “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan“On Sunday that the president -elect had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping and” they agreed to work together on this. “
“We can have an application that protects Americans,” Waltz said. “And I could tell them that I would not want the FBI or the US government to monitor each key or see each password, nor would we want the Chinese Communist Party. But we also want an application that clearly 170 million Americans really enjoy and that we could spread our message during Trump’s campaign in a very powerful way. “
Tiktok had said on Friday that “it would be forced to go out” from Sunday unless the Biden administration assured the service providers that the law would not apply. The White House described the appeal as “a trick” and said that the company should raise its concerns to the Trump administration.
“We do not see any reason for Tiktok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration assumes the position on Monday,” said White House Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Internationally, on Sunday, the Tiktok application was still accessible and there was no indication for international users that had been extinguished in the US. UU. It was still possible to see and interact with US accounts, and there was no obvious official signage of that the access of American users had been restricted.
Even if Trump refuses to enforce the prohibition, the law would remain in force and companies like Apple and Google could be penalized in the future by infractions. Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he was considering an option to extend the deadline for the law to be valid.
“The 90 -day extension is something that will probably be done, because it is appropriate,” he said in the telephone interview, adding: “If I decide to do that, I will probably announce it on Monday.”
The law includes a provision that allows a short -term extension if there is an ongoing sale.
During the Supreme Court Arguments on January 10Noel Francisco, Tiktok’s lawyer, warned that the platform would close when the law entered into force, explaining that it would be “extraordinarily difficult” for a divestment to occur in any schedule because the Chinese government opposes the sale of the algorithm. which drives the platform adapting video recommendations to each user.
“As I understand, we are dark,” said Francisco.
But even if there were an eventual sale that did not include the Tiktok algorithm, “many years” would be necessary for a new team of engineers to rebuild him and would be a “fundamentally different platform,” according to Francisco. He said that the company’s inability to share user data with Bytedance according to the law would prevent US users from seeing content from other parts of the world and vice versa.
The bipartisan law was included in a foreign assistance package that was quickly approved by Congress and signed by President Biden last April. Tiktok and Bytedance challenged the law The following month, describing it as “an affirmation of extraordinary and unconstitutional power” based on “speculative and analytically erroneous concerns about data security and content manipulation” that would suppress the discourse of millions of Americans.
In a December ruling, a Federal Court of Appeals confirmed the statute, saying that the United States government “acted only to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit the ability of that adversary to collect data on people in the United States ” The Court of Appeals later denied Tiktok’s attempt to delay the entry into force of the law, pending a review of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court acted with extraordinary speed to address the case after Tiktok asked the judges to order a temporary pause. The Court He issued his opinion A week after listening to the arguments and two days before the law entered into force.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, Tiktok offers a distinctive and expansive exit for expression, a means of participation and a community source. But Congress has determined that divestment is necessary to address its good Founded national security concerns.
The judges cited the conclusion of the Congress that companies that deliver data to the Chinese government according to Chinese law can be required.
“The government had good reasons to point to Tiktok,” the court said.
Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar pointed out during the arguments that “nothing permanent or irrevocable” happens on Sunday. The law grants the authority to raise restrictions on Tiktok if there is a sale after date.
“Congress hoped we could see something like a game of the chicken. Bytedance said: We cannot do it, China will never allow us to do so. But when things come to an end and these restrictions enter into force, I think it will fundamentally change the situation .
In a video statement after the Supreme Court issued its decision, Tiktok executive director Shou Chew seemed confident that the application would have a future under Trump. He thanked the incoming president to find a solution that allows Tiktok to continue operating in the US “over the next few years.”
Trump, who tried to prohibit Tiktok during his first mandate for national security concerns, said Friday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about Tiktok. A Chinese summary of the call did not mention that it was a topic of discussion.
Except for a sale or that the Congress annuls the law, there is no long -term certainty about the future of Tiktok in the US if Trump or a future president If you refuse to enforce the law, companies like Apple and Google could still face strong fines in the future.
“On the 19th, if it does not close, there is a violation of the law, right?” Judge Sonia Sotomayor asked Prelugar, who said: “Yes.”
“And what the new president does, does not change that reality for these companies,” Sotomayor continued, referring to the sanctions faced by application stores and web accommodation services.
“That’s right,” he said, adding that there is a five -year prescription period.
Haley Ott and Emily Mae Czachor contributed to this report.
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