Newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated his interest in keeping TikTok operational in the United States, at least temporarily. Speaking at a conservative rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump explained that the billions of views garnered by his campaign on TikTok have prompted him to reconsider its removal. Reuters reported his remarks as a potential shift in his stance toward the platform.
This statement is seen as Trump’s strongest hint yet at opposing plans to remove TikTok from the U.S. market.
In April, the U.S. Senate passed a law requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its ownership of the app, citing national security concerns. ByteDance has appealed to overturn the law, and the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the case. However, if the court rules against ByteDance and the company fails to divest, TikTok could effectively be banned in the U.S. starting January 19, one day before Trump’s presidential inauguration.
Trump remarked, “We have to think about this because we ran our campaign on TikTok and got amazing traction—billions and billions of views. They showed me a chart, and it was a record. I looked at it and said, ‘Maybe we have to keep it for a while.’”
Following a meeting with TikTok’s CEO on Monday, Trump acknowledged his “special feeling” toward the app due to its role in his campaign’s success.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice has labeled TikTok’s Chinese ownership a threat to national security, garnering widespread support from American lawmakers.
On the other hand, TikTok has defended its operations, asserting that its content recommendation engine and U.S. user data are stored on Oracle Corporation’s cloud servers in the United States. Additionally, decisions regarding content moderation for U.S. users are made domestically.
