Trump signs executive order extending TikTok operations for 75 days

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that extended the operations of TikTok, the Chinese controlled video short sharing platform, by 75 days, during which he plans to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.

“I am instructing 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 that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” said the executive order signed by Trump.

Signed into law by Joe Biden in April last year, the bill passed by wide bipartisan majorities in the House and the Senate gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 270 days to divest from the app or face a ban from US app stores. PTI