Executive Order Delays TikTok Ban For 75 Days

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today delaying the TikTok ban for 75 days. The Verge reports: The order, issued on Trump's first day of office, is meant to effectively extend the deadline established by The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for ByteDance to sell its stake by undercutting penalties on American companies like Apple and Google working with TikTok. It directs the Attorney General 'not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way.' The AG is supposed to 'issue a letter to each provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred.'

The order furthermore instructs the Department of Justice to 'take no action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act' and says they should be barred from doing so 'for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period or any period prior to the issuance of this order, including the period of time from January 19, 2025, to the signing of this order.' It remains unclear whether Trump can legally pause the ban. It's also unclear how he plans to enforce a 50 percent 'joint venture' ownership with the company, a move he announced on Sunday.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.