President Joe Biden’s administration said it will be up to President-elect Donald Trump to implement the ban on TikTok, which is set to take effect in two days after the Supreme Court upheld the law Friday.
“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The law required the China-based company ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok, in order for the popular app to continue operating in the United States. Without such action, it would be banned beginning on Sunday. The measure passed in Congress with bipartisan support, with lawmakers citing national security concerns over the Chinese ownership.
NBC News previously reported that the Biden administration was weighing against enforcing the law and had no plans to levy billions of dollars in fines against tech companies that continued to allow access to TikTok.
The ban will take effect just one day before Trump is set to be inaugurated as president. Trump has said he is against the ban, even though he once supported it.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump said in a TruthSocial post.
Without enforcement of the ban beginning on Sunday, it’s not entirely clear what TikTok’s availability for users will as the law goes into effect. NBC News previously reported that TikTok was considering “going dark” as a last resort. But TikTok has yet to issue an official statement on how it will proceed given the Biden administration’s most recent comments.
Despite the bipartisan support for the legislation to remove TikTok from its Chinese ownership, it has become politically tricky; politicians faced pressure from the app’s users in the United States. Many users earn income from the content they produce on TikTok or use the app to promote their businesses. Others simply value TikTok as a primary source of entertainment.
During his first term in office, Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban the app. But during his campaign for president, after he joined TikTok and amassed over 14 million followers on the app, he vowed to “save TikTok.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
