Donald Trump expresses support for TikTok amid ban threats

• Published On: 17 July 2024 at 19:54

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declared support for TikTok, despite looming fears of a ban if Chinese parent company ByteDance fails to divest its U.S. holdings for the short video app.

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published on Tuesday, Trump underlined the necessity of competition, saying, "I'm for TikTok because you need competition. If you don't have TikTok, you can still use Facebook and Instagram. This view differs from his previous assessment of TikTok as a threat to national security. Trump joined TikTok himself last month.

TikTok refuses to respond to Trump's remarks. As president, Trump attempted to ban TikTok and the Chinese-owned WeChat in 2020, but his efforts were thwarted by court decisions. In June 2021, President Joe Biden revoked a series of executive orders issued by the Trump administration that sought to ban both applications.

Trump, who has criticized Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram for suspending him during the Capitol Hill incident on January 6, 2021, reiterated his opposition to a TikTok ban in a June interview.

Notably, Trump owns a majority ownership in Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the competitor network Truth Social. Despite Trump Media's tiny quarterly revenue of approximately $770,000—equivalent to the sales of two Starbucks stores in the United States—the company has a market capitalization of $7 billion.

A US appeals court will hear legal arguments to a new rule requiring ByteDance to transfer its TikTok holdings in the United States by January 19, 2024, or face a ban, in September. The measure, signed by President Biden on April 24, seeks to remove Chinese ownership ties with TikTok on national security grounds, but does not require a blanket ban.

Congress quickly enacted the legislation in April, prompted by concerns among US politicians about the possible data security dangers posed by TikTok's Chinese ownership.

The next judicial proceedings before the United States judicial of Appeals for the District of Columbia will be critical, occurring during the last weeks of the 2024 presidential election and spotlighting current disputes over national security, technology regulation, and foreign affairs.