Washington (CNN) 鈥� The White House has looked into options to keep TikTok accessible to its 170 million American users if a ban that is set to go into effect Sunday continues as planned.
But White House officials say they don鈥檛 believe President Joe Biden has the authority to defer enforcement of a law he signed in April that required the app鈥檚 Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to American ownership by January 19. If it is not sold, TikTok would be barred from US app stores.
The ban is scheduled to take effect on the last full day of Biden鈥檚 administration, barring an unlikely last-minute intervention from the Supreme Court. A White House official said Thursday that because the ban鈥檚 timing comes at the end of Biden鈥檚 term, it will be up to President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 administration to decide how to implement the ban.
鈥淥ur position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,鈥� the official said.
The law allows Biden to impose an extension of up to 90 days, but it requires the president prove that negotiations surrounding the purchase of TikTok make significant progress, and ByteDance has maintained that they have no intention to sell the app.
Still, some lawmakers have urged Biden to grant ByteDance that extension. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul in December asking for a delay in the law鈥檚 implementation citing 鈥渋ts consequences for free expression.鈥�
Trump, who has promised to 鈥渟ave TikTok鈥� in a reversal for his previous support of a ban, is weighing a plan that could give ByteDance more time to work out a deal. But any reprieve from Trump would have to come after the ban is already set to take effect.
Wildly popular TikTok is where about in the US regularly get their news. But both Trump and Biden have raised concerns in the past about content manipulation on the platform, its data collection practices and national-security concerns related to its parent company鈥檚 ties with China.
But in a nod to just how influential the app is, both Trump and the ill-fated Biden 2024 presidential campaign joined TikTok after they called for it to be banned.
Trump has recently taken a more active role against a ban. He met with the CEO of TikTok at Mar-a-Lago after his election victory. That CEO, Shou Chew, is expected to join several other prominent tech figures at Trump鈥檚 inauguration on Monday. And Trump last month asked the Supreme Court .
鈥淭here are valid concerns that the act may set a dangerous global precedent by exercising the extraordinary power to shut down an entire social-media platform based, in large part, on concerns about disfavored speech on that platform,鈥� Trump鈥檚 brief said.
Stephen Miller, Trump鈥檚 incoming deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, said during a Thursday appearance on Fox News that Trump intends to 鈥渄evelop a comprehensive national strategy to protect Americans鈥� data and protect Americans鈥� privacy without unconstitutionally constraining their ability to conduct free speech online.鈥�
Pressed on whether Trump intends to take executive action protecting TikTok鈥檚 ability to function in the immediate future, Miller did not directly respond, but said Trump is expecting that he will be the one to manage the process.
鈥淲ithout giving anything away, it would be my assumption that President Trump would want to have as president of the United States the ability to manage this process to ensure, again, we are protecting America, but also protecting sacred and fundamental rights,鈥� he said.
CNN鈥檚 Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
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