TikTok US ban may not happen after all, Trump hints

It seems like President-elect Donald Trump has had a change of heart over TikTok. He suggested over the weekend that TikTok might not be heading out of the U.S. after all. Speaking to supporters at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump hinted at a potential change in stance, saying, “Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while.” The comment comes just weeks before a ban on the popular app is set to take effect on January 19, a day before Trump officially takes office.

According to Reuters, Trump’s remarks highlighted the platform’s role in his recent presidential campaign. “We did go on TikTok, and we had a great response with billions of views,” he told the cheering crowd. He even joked about being shown a record-breaking chart of his TikTok success, which appeared to influence his newfound appreciation for the app.

This is a notable shift from Trump’s earlier position. During his first term, he pushed to ban TikTok over national security concerns due to its ties to China-based parent company ByteDance. A bipartisan law signed earlier this year by President Biden requires ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a U.S. ban.

However, ByteDance has taken the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the law is unconstitutional. The Court is set to hear arguments on January 10, leaving TikTok’s fate hanging in the balance.

Meanwhile, TikTok’s challenges extend beyond the U.S. In Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama defended his government’s decision to ban the app for a year, citing concerns over violence and bullying among children. The ban followed the stabbing death of a teenager after a social media-related quarrel, though TikTok denies its platform was involved.

Rama argued that the move was “a carefully considered decision” to protect Albanian youth, adding, “Our decision couldn’t be clearer: Either TikTok protects the children of Albania, or Albania will protect its children from TikTok.”

So it’s clear TikTok is still in hot waters around the world. The app’s already banned in one of the most populous countries — India — where millions used the platform before the ban hammer came down. We’ll have to wait and see if the recent reliance on AI to moderate its content on a large scale helps in any way to reduce the amount of harmful content on the platform. If not, we can certainly expect to see governments in other countries consider putting an end to TikTok.