Donald Trump Likely to Try to Block US TikTok Ban

Officials close to Donald Trump say the newly-elected US president is likely to try and put a stop to a ban on Chinese short video app TikTok, The Washington Post reported.

Trump promised to block the TikTok ban while on his campaign trail, after the Biden Administration signed into law a measure requiring the app’s Chinese parent firm ByteDance to divest its US operations. If ByteDance fails to do so January 19, 2025, app providers such as Apple and Google will be legally required to remove TikTok from their online stores, according to the provisions of the law.

Trump was likely to intervene on TikTok’s behalf, if necessary, to avoid such a ban, the WaPo report said, citing advisers to the president-elect.

Trump “appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok, which he used masterfully along with podcasts and new media entrants to win,” Trump aide Kellyanne Conway told The Washington Post.

“There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million US users each month.”

Read the full report: The Washington Post

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]