Just weeks before the imminent collapse of China-based video app TikTok in the United States, Donald Trump intervened in the controversy. In a letter to the country’s Supreme Court, the US president-elect called for suspending the law requiring the sale of video apps. Trump argued that he could save the platform through negotiations and also find a solution to the US government’s security concerns.
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By documents in court It is said that Trump alone – who is not involved in the related legal proceedings – has the skills and political will to negotiate a solution to save the platform. The court’s decision on the TikTok ban is also a historic challenge in the background of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Trump’s promised solution would make this process unnecessary. TikTok also violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, which is why the ban is unconstitutional.
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Trump himself communicates daily with his approximately 15 million TikTok followers and also operates his own social media platform, Truth Social, which provides him with the expert expertise needed to interact with TikTok. In general, he considers himself particularly successful among young voters and also attributes this to social networks. In mid-December Trump said, “I won the youth vote by 34 points and there are people who say TikTok had something to do with it.”
In his letter, Trump criticized Elon Musk’s short messaging service in Brazil.
Under the law, which took effect in April, the video app must change hands by January 19. Otherwise it should be banned from the App Store in the United States and lose access to the infrastructure.
Supreme Court is the last chance
Trump had previously said he wanted to save the video service. TikTok, in turn, used the Republican confirmation as an argument in an immediate motion against the legislation — so far unsuccessfully.
But at the request of the forum, the Supreme Court wants to take a closer look at the case. Hearing is to be held on January 10. The judge wants to examine the question of whether the law on ownership change violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression.
Not even thinking about selling TikTok
President Joe Biden could extend the deadline for TikTok for another three months — but only if sale talks are promising. TikTok has so far refused to even consider changing ownership. The app claims to have 170 million users in the US.
Trump, who will become the next US president on January 20, failed in court in an attempt to sell TikTok in his first term. However, recently, he spoke out against banning the platform. He himself cannot violate the law.
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There are fears of Chinese influence and espionage
The video platform belongs to China-based company ByteDance. The law points to the risk that China could gain access to and influence Americans’ data.
ByteDance is viewed as a Chinese company among all parties in the US. TikTok says ByteDance is about 60 percent owned by Western investors. The company is headquartered on the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. However, US politicians insist that the Chinese founders are in control because of high voting rights with a stake of about 20 percent and ByteDance being headquartered in Beijing, where they cannot escape the influence of authorities.
At the same time, TikTok itself stated in the lawsuit that the Chinese government wanted to stop the sale of recommendation software developed in China as the core of the app. The algorithm decides which video will be shown next and reacts very sensitively to, among other things, how long you watch a clip on a certain topic.
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