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The short answer is that he can't. The president has no power to ban TikTok. The president also has no control over how the app is distributed or its connectivi

The short answer is that he can't. The president has no power to ban TikTok. The president also has no control over how the app is distributed or its connectivity. He can say whatever he wants, and he can strongarm the agencies he has some control over (like the FCC), but there's simply no mechanism by which a ban can be enforced, legal or technical. Unless Google and Apple decide to voluntarily remove it from their app stores and forcibly remove existing downloads, it's not going away, and neither company is going to do that without a legal battle. There's no one who even has the authority to demand it, though.

anon9001 6y ago
I want you to be right, but I don't think you are. He's likely to issue some kind of executive order forcing bytedance to divest tiktok to continue operations. We may see some DoJ or FCC enforcement action that's effectively a "ban" (for users) while only being legally a temporary disruption of service pending compliance (for lawmakers, judges, enforcement agencies, etc to be okay with it). As we have learned over the last 4 years, the president has near absolute control over all federal actions. I think the safe bet is a bunch of saber rattling that ends with some US entity buying tiktok.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- finnthehuman 6y ago
  > As we have learned over the last 4 years, the president has near absolute control over all federal actions. Maybe this period in history is a hint to stop electing legislators that are happier letting someone else do all the hard work of deciding what the government should do.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  He is right actually, and has a great argument and I don't feel you are correct at all. It looks like TikTok USA is currently trying to shut him down by simply becoming a completely independent company that is USA based and doesn't share any data with China. That is the 3rd option. However if the CIA has some evidence that the Chinese are gathering up information and feeding it straight to their cybertroll farms then he absolutely can shut it all down and arrest some people because then they are breaking the law and that falls under Federal police power.
paulcole 6y ago
> The president has no power to ban TikTok This is the #1 mistake people have made over and over with Trump. “He can’t...”, “He won’t...”, “He wouldn’t...”, “He’ll never...”. He doesn’t play by any rules. You have to assume anything and everything is on the table. If he really wants to ban TikTok he’ll either get it done or scorch the earth trying. Do you really think once someone says, “Mr. Trump there’s no mechanism for you to legally ban TikTok” he’ll be like, “Oh yeah my bad, I better get back to work on helping America through this pandemic.” He knows he can say whatever he wants and strongarm whoever he wants. That is his literal playbook!
- krapp 6y ago
  >He doesn’t play by any rules. You have to assume anything and everything is on the table. If he really wants to ban TikTok he’ll either get it done or scorch the earth trying. History suggests otherwise - more often than not he neither gets it done nor scorches the earth trying: ■ Trump wanted to change the date of the election, or suspend it entirely. ■ Trump wanted to send the military in to quell domestic riots. ■ Trump wanted to force states to reopen on his timetable. ■ Trump wanted to force American companies to manufacture domestically. ■ Trump wanted to repeal DACA. ■ Trump wanted to repeal Obamacare. ■ Trump wanted to ban Muslim immigration. ■ Trump wanted to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. The list of things Trump has tried to make happen, only to be sent whimpering back into the corner like a whipped dog, far outstrips his actual accomplishments.
steventhedev 6y ago
Most likely it will be added to the OFAC sanction list at which point both Google and apple will delist the app within a few days. You can read up on how the SDN lists are basically the long arm of US law and can completely excise someone from modern society (even if they live outside the US). Banks will refuse to complete payments, merchants will refuse service, shipping companies will return packages, etc.
gthtjtkt 6y ago
I guess you never heard about what happened with Huawei?
wdr1 6y ago
> The short answer is that he can't. It depends upon what you mean by "can't." If you mean legal authority to block a specific app, no. If you mean use his authority to influence & effectively make it happen, he can. In other words, it is very much a threat with teeth. It would just be a roundabout path for implementation.
mistermann 6y ago
Money and top secret guidelines could make this happen completely legally. I see TikTok as a strategic platform, including geopolitical. It is a wire into 100 million mostly young American minds.
thehappypm 6y ago
You are right. Trump does not have the power to go into 100M phones, remove the apps, and disable the services that run them. What Trump does have is the power of government, which will make it awfully easy for Apple and Google to do it for him.

anon9001 6y ago

I want you to be right, but I don't think you are. He's likely to issue some kind of executive order forcing bytedance to divest tiktok to continue operations. We may see some DoJ or FCC enforcement action that's effectively a "ban" (for users) while only being legally a temporary disruption of service pending compliance (for lawmakers, judges, enforcement agencies, etc to be okay with it). As we have learned over the last 4 years, the president has near absolute control over all federal actions. I think the safe bet is a bunch of saber rattling that ends with some US entity buying tiktok.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
finnthehuman 6y ago
> As we have learned over the last 4 years, the president has near absolute control over all federal actions. Maybe this period in history is a hint to stop electing legislators that are happier letting someone else do all the hard work of deciding what the government should do.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
He is right actually, and has a great argument and I don't feel you are correct at all. It looks like TikTok USA is currently trying to shut him down by simply becoming a completely independent company that is USA based and doesn't share any data with China. That is the 3rd option. However if the CIA has some evidence that the Chinese are gathering up information and feeding it straight to their cybertroll farms then he absolutely can shut it all down and arrest some people because then they are breaking the law and that falls under Federal police power.

paulcole 6y ago

> The president has no power to ban TikTok This is the #1 mistake people have made over and over with Trump. “He can’t...”, “He won’t...”, “He wouldn’t...”, “He’ll never...”. He doesn’t play by any rules. You have to assume anything and everything is on the table. If he really wants to ban TikTok he’ll either get it done or scorch the earth trying. Do you really think once someone says, “Mr. Trump there’s no mechanism for you to legally ban TikTok” he’ll be like, “Oh yeah my bad, I better get back to work on helping America through this pandemic.” He knows he can say whatever he wants and strongarm whoever he wants. That is his literal playbook!

krapp 6y ago
>He doesn’t play by any rules. You have to assume anything and everything is on the table. If he really wants to ban TikTok he’ll either get it done or scorch the earth trying. History suggests otherwise - more often than not he neither gets it done nor scorches the earth trying: ■ Trump wanted to change the date of the election, or suspend it entirely. ■ Trump wanted to send the military in to quell domestic riots. ■ Trump wanted to force states to reopen on his timetable. ■ Trump wanted to force American companies to manufacture domestically. ■ Trump wanted to repeal DACA. ■ Trump wanted to repeal Obamacare. ■ Trump wanted to ban Muslim immigration. ■ Trump wanted to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. The list of things Trump has tried to make happen, only to be sent whimpering back into the corner like a whipped dog, far outstrips his actual accomplishments.

steventhedev 6y ago

Most likely it will be added to the OFAC sanction list at which point both Google and apple will delist the app within a few days. You can read up on how the SDN lists are basically the long arm of US law and can completely excise someone from modern society (even if they live outside the US). Banks will refuse to complete payments, merchants will refuse service, shipping companies will return packages, etc.

gthtjtkt 6y ago

I guess you never heard about what happened with Huawei?

wdr1 6y ago

> The short answer is that he can't. It depends upon what you mean by "can't." If you mean legal authority to block a specific app, no. If you mean use his authority to influence & effectively make it happen, he can. In other words, it is very much a threat with teeth. It would just be a roundabout path for implementation.

mistermann 6y ago

Money and top secret guidelines could make this happen completely legally. I see TikTok as a strategic platform, including geopolitical. It is a wire into 100 million mostly young American minds.

thehappypm 6y ago

You are right. Trump does not have the power to go into 100M phones, remove the apps, and disable the services that run them. What Trump does have is the power of government, which will make it awfully easy for Apple and Google to do it for him.