Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska spoke out against President-elect Donald Trump's TikTok "extension" plan on Sunday.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's transition team, Cotton's office and TikTok via email for comment on Sunday.
Why It Matters
TikTok's fate has emerged as a significant geopolitical and cultural issue after Congress passed a law last year signed by President Joe Biden requiring TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest the platform by January 19. Lawmakers supporting the app's sale or ban have cited national security concerns, pointing to ByteDance's ties to the Chinese government and the app's data collection practices.
Defenders of TikTok, meanwhile, don't believe in a national security threat posed by China with the use of the social media platform. They rather believe that the bipartisan legislation that led to the app going dark on Saturday night is an infringement on their First Amendment right to free speech and a way for people in power to take away the online community created on the app and the economic influence it has had.
In recent months, Trump's stance on TikTok has evolved. During his first term, he signed executive orders to ban the app, which were later blocked by courts. His change in position followed meetings with American investors and public acknowledgment of TikTok's role in his political outreach during the 2024 election.
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What To Know
TikTok became unavailable on major app stores in the United States on Saturday evening as new legislation mandating the platform's removal took effect. Users searching for TikTok on Apple's App Store or Google Play Store after 10:50 p.m. EST could no longer find TikTok.
If a U.S. user tries to open the app, they will see the following message: "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"
In Truth Social post on Sunday morning, Trump, who takes office tomorrow, asked companies "not to let TikTok stay dark."
"I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order," he wrote.
He added: "I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say [sic] up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."
The day prior, Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker that he will "most likely" give TikTok a 90-day reprieve once he takes office.
"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," he said.
Trump signed an executive order on January 20 to give TikTok a 75-day extension before enforcing the ban despite the law taking effect the day prior, a move that could face legal scrutiny.
Without naming Trump, Cotton, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Trump ally, and Ricketts said on Sunday morning that "there's no legal basis" for an "extension" plan.
"Now that the law has taken effect, there's no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law's qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok," the two senators said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.
The Republican lawmakers also commended Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft for removing TikTok from their app stores and encouraged other companies to also comply with the new law as it "risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it."
What People Are Saying
A spokesperson for Senator Pete Ricketts told Newsweek: "President Trump said he signed the executive order to 'make a deal to protect our national security.' Senator Ricketts agrees that protecting our national security is paramount and that can only be done by ridding TikTok of all ties with Communist China."
TikTok, in a statement on Sunday: "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Friday that Biden believes that "TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress," while adding that "actions to implement the law simply must fall to" Trump due to the "timing" of the ban.
Trump's incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz told CNN's Dana Bash Sunday morning on State of the Union that Trump is working to "save TikTok" and didn't rule out the possibility of a Chinese parent company with "firewalls to make sure that the data is protected here on US soil."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and Trump ally, told NBC's Kristen Welker Sunday morning on Meet the Press, "I think we will enforce the law and when President Trump issued the Truth post and said 'save TikTok,' the way we read that is that he's going to force along a true divestiture."
What Happens Next
It remains yet to be seen whether ByteDance will agree to Trump's joint venture proposal. Meanwhile, TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has been invited to attend Trump's inauguration tomorrow.
Update 1/19/25, 11:42 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 1/19/25, 1:12 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 1/23/25, 10:58 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Senator Pete Ricketts' spokesperson and additional information.
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About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more