A day before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to issue a first-day executive order aimed at saving TikTok, despite being a key proponent of a ban during his first term.
Posting on Social Truth on Jan. 19, Trump wrote that he was seeking to “extend the period of time before the law’s bans go into effect” and push for a “deal to protect our national security,” suggesting he intends to mediate a joint venture this would result in an American company taking 50 percent ownership. He called on companies to “not let TikTok go dark” and said he can “confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
TikTok quickly responded, saying it was working to restore service after Trump’s statements. “We thank President Trump for providing the certainty and clarity needed for our service providers that they will not face any penalties while providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.” has written platform in their official policy account on X.
In a departure from his previous stance and executive orders during his first term as president, Trump has turned his back on the Chinese-owned company over the past year. Last month, the president-elect sent an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court arguing that he is uniquely positioned to save TikTok and protect the nation’s national security objectives, asking the court to allow the ban on prohibition. The court later upheld the ban.
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Trump and tech’s biggest names have been courting each other for months, especially after Trump’s campaign victory. On January 17, TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a public message to users in which he thanked Trump for his efforts to restore the app. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” Chew said. “We are grateful and delighted to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform – one who has used TikTok to express his thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of the content his in the process. “
Mashable’s Speed of Light
Not long after the app was blacked out, TikTok changed an in-app message warning users of the ban. The original message was:
We regret that a US law banning TikTok will go into effect on January 19th and will force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.
We are working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible and appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.
The revised notice stated:
A law banning TikTok has been passed in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok right now.
We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!
The popup has since been removed.
It’s not just TikTok either. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla/X owner Elon Musk, who will earn an advisory position under the new administration, have also publicly praised Trump and his policy positions, particularly around attitudes his controversial stance on content moderation and free speech. . Meta recently revised its moderation and DEI policies in the name of a more “free speech” supportive platform, removing its diversity mandates and loosening its hate speech policies to include prohibited forms of content before. And OpenAI’s Sam Altman has defended his decision to donate millions in personal contributions to Trump’s inaugural fund in response to a letter from US senators hinting at possible corruption.
Many of Big Tech’s inner circle, including Chew, are expected to appear at the inaugural swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
