More than six months after Tiktok was banned, it is still not clear exactly what fate will be in the US. However, there are new insights into the legal disputes that have allowed Apple, Google and other platforms to continue supporting their apps.
If you remember, Tiktok was “banned” for a few hours just before President Donald Trump took office in January and the law. The app’s services were restored immediately on January 19, 2025, but the app did not return to the Apple and Google app stores until February 13th. Reports at the time suggested that businesses had lingering concerns about their potential liability for violations of protecting Americans from foreign hostile application laws.
Back in February axios The Justice Department also reported that it had given a “guarantee” to its tech platform that would not be punished for violating the law. Now we know exactly what Attorney General Pam Bondi said to his peers as letters sent to Apple, Google, Amazon, Oracle and other companies have been published. The letter was disclosed in a Freedom of Information Act request made by Tony Tan, a software engineer and Google shareholder. A major search company for not complying with the Tiktok ban.
In a letter dated January 30, 2025, Bondi told Apple and Google, “The President has determined that the sudden closure of the Tiktok platform would prevent the President from enforcing the President’s constitutional obligations to take care of US national security and diplomacy.” Apple and Google say “we may continue to provide services to Tiktok without taking any legal liability.”
Follow-up in the second half of April 5, 2025 (the day after Trump gave Tiktok a 75-day reprieve) said, “The Department of Justice will irreparably waive any claims the United States may have opposed against “them” against “them” for conduct committed during the covered period and extend the covered period. Activities. “
The text can be read in full below.
The law has been suspended since Trump took office. Earlier this week, he Details regarding the new Tiktok ownership could be made public in “approximately two weeks.”
