Staff Reports
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice appears to be working overtime to ensure that President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have a chance to win big with a potential TikTok ban. One has to wonder if the DOJ has added “watching out for Trump” to their job description, right alongside “protecting national security.”
Recently, the DOJ informed the Supreme Court that it would oppose Trump’s request to delay the enforcement of a law that aims to ban TikTok. Currently set to kick in a day before Trump’s inauguration on January 19, this law is all about securing America from any potential threats posed by the Chinese-owned social media giant. Attorney General Merrick Garland has taken the stance that TikTok could be a Trojan Horse for espionage, just waiting to harvest sensitive data from the unwitting American user base.
🇺🇸DOJ URGES SUPREME COURT TO DENY TRUMP REQUEST TO DELAY TIKTOK BAN
The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to reject Trump's request to postpone a law that could force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations by Jan. 19.
Trump argued the… https://t.co/4p641Fo2Cx pic.twitter.com/Gli0wisj1b
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 4, 2025
Garland’s intense rhetoric painted TikTok not just as any social media platform but as a full-fledged “weapon” in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. In his view, the platform’s extensive data collection from its 170 million American users could plunge the nation into a data-collection nightmare straight out of a far-fetched Cold War flick. It seems that for Garland, a TikTok account is akin to inviting spies into one’s living room for a cozy chat.
Now, while the DOJ is snuggling up to its national security narratives, the tides have shifted for Trump when it comes to TikTok. During his first presidential term, Trump was ready to pull the plug on the app faster than anyone could say “national security.” However, now that he’s preparing for a comeback, he seems intent on playing it cool—vowing to remain “neutral” on the app’s fate, which is a curious twist for someone who championed the ban just a few years back.
What adds to the intrigue is Trump’s recent chat with TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, who has been busy trying to charm lawmakers and the next president into believing that TikTok would safeguard American data. You know things are serious when even politicians with widely differing views—like Sens. Ed Markey and Rand Paul—are crossing party lines to defend the app, arguing a ban would infringe upon freedom of speech. It seems that TikTok’s popularity has made it a darling, not just of Gen Z, but also of some in Congress.
As the legal battles unfold and the Supreme Court weighs in, viewers will be watching this high-stakes game of law and social media very closely. Whether the court sides with national security or the perceived right to dance along to catchy tunes remains to be seen. For now, it looks like TikTok is the unexpected center of a political showdown, with both sides digging in for an uncertain future regarding one of the largest national security conversations presented in a platform that’s typically reserved for creativity and memes.
