As President Joe Biden prepares to leave the White House, it was announced today that the Biden administration will not take any action that results in a TikTok ban in the United States. This was stated by an administration official who leaked this decision to ABC News. The official also explained that the Biden administration believes TikTok should operate under an American owner. However, the outgoing administration is allowing the incoming administration to decide what to do about TikTok.

TikTok itself is not responsible for following the law that calls for the app to be shut down on January 19. The responsibility falls on app stores and internet hosting companies to shut down TikTok starting Sunday. The Department of Justice has the power to fine these companies $5,000 per user if they do not comply with the law. This adds up to a large enough fine to ensure that every company involved in deploying TikTok on devices in the US falls in line.

Even if the Biden administration or the Trump administration decides not to enforce the law, the technology companies responsible for listing TikTok in the app stores (Apple, Google) and the internet hosting company that allows US internet users to access TikTok (Oracle) will still have the right to do so. To follow the law unless the US Supreme Court intervenes at the last minute, or ByteDance sells TikTok to another company. The law calls for the application to close on January 19, with the possibility of a 90-day extension.

The President can issue a one-time, 90-day extension to postpone the start of the ban under three conditions:

• TikTok must prove it's working on a deal that takes it out of ByteDance's hands.
• There must be “evidence of significant progress” toward the sale.
• Progress towards a sale must be sealed with “relevant binding legal agreements”.

So far, none of these conditions have been met. Donald Trump has changed his mind about TikTok with the president-elect stating after the election that he has a "warm spot in my heart" for the app. This may be due to TikTok's ability to bring youth voices to Trump. However, barring some exciting news announced by Saturday night, TikTok's days in the US may be numbered.