The clock is ticking on whether or not the Chinese government-connected social media platform TikTok will “go dark” in the U.S. over the weekend, after the Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold the law banning the site starting Jan. 19. The high court announced it would take up the case as an emergency review, with TikTok arguing a ban would violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.
BREAKING: Supreme Court Rules on TikTok Ban
HUGE: The Supreme Court Announces Whether It Will Take Up Ban After TikTok Requested Emergency Review
On Friday, TikTok warned in a statement that it would pull the plug Sunday, unless officials in the Biden administration step in and make a “definitive statement” reassuring the company it would not enforce the ban, which was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden:
“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” TikTok said.
The statement, issued just over a day before the ban is scheduled to go into effect, puts pressure on President Joe Biden in his final days in office to publicly decline to enforce a law that passed Congress swiftly with bipartisan support.
In response, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement reaffirming the position that Biden is leaving this law’s implementation to Trump, and calling out the social media platform’s threat as “a stunt”:
“We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” she said.
“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them,” she said.
As we wrote previously, President-elect Donald Trump filed a last-minute amicus brief in the SCOTUS review of the case in late December 2024. And on Friday, he spoke in a phone call with Chinese President Xi, although it isn’t clear whether TikTok was a part of their discussion.
Now, in a new interview Saturday with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Trump has floated a possible solution to the imminent ban–a 90-day extension of the deadline to either sell the platform or be banned:
Trump said he hadn’t made a final decision but was considering a 90-day extension of the Sunday deadline for TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell to a non-Chinese-buyer or face a U.S. ban.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in the phone interview.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he said.
NBC News notes that the law passed in April 2024 does allow for “a 90-day extension under specific conditions.”
A Monday announcement, of course, will be too late to stop any interruption caused by TikTok going dark, if they choose to follow through with their statement.
As this is a developing story, RedState will keep you in the loop on any updates.
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