President Donald Trump has directed his Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April, but a host of questions remain – including whether Trump has the authority to issue such an order and if TikTok’s China-based parent would be amenable to selling the popular social media platform.
In an executive order signed on Monday, Trump instructed the U.S. attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days while his administration determines “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of TikTok.
Under a federal law that was upheld by the Supreme Court last week, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was required to sell the platform to an approved buyer by Sunday or face a nationwide ban. On Saturday evening, a few hours before the ban took effect, TikTok became unusable for U.S. users. But it came back online on Sunday, with TikTok crediting Trump for helping the platform after he vowed on social media to stall the ban.
The federal law, passed with bipartisan support in Congress last year, provides a 90-day extension if progress has been made toward a sale. But Trump’s executive order now complicates matters for companies who could be liable for delivering TikTok’s service to U.S. users.
Some — at least as of now — appear to be taking a cautious approach. On Tuesday, both Apple and Google, which operate the two most prominent app stores, did not offer TikTok or any other ByteDance-affiliated apps, such as Lemon8 or the video editing app CapCut, on their digital marketplaces.
Here’s what we know:
The Justice Department is generally tasked with enforcing the laws of the federal government. But Trump does not have the power to overturn a law that Congress passed and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
The law does give the sitting president latitude on certain details, such as what would count as a “qualified divesture” of TikTok. But since an extension on a ban can only occur if “significant progress” has been made towards a sale of TikTok’s U.S. platform, it’s possible that Trump’s order could face legal challenges.
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