Trump may try to reverse TikTok ban. Here’s how he could.

Social media platform TikTok is hurtling toward a U.S. ban that could upend its business and frustrate more than 150 million American users — unless President-elect Donald Trump finds a way to reverse the policy.

Trump, who boasts 14 million followers on TikTok, voiced opposition to the ban earlier this year. The policy, which orders TikTok to discover a U.S. parent corporation or face a ban, is set to receive result on Jan. 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration.

An attempt to eliminate the ban may now formidable political challenges and legal hurdles, experts told ABC information. The outcome could depend on back from an array of major institutions ranging from Congress and the Supreme Court to tech giants like Google and Oracle, they added.

The China-owned app has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.

There is little evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that the Chinese government has asked the app to do so, cybersecurity experts previously told ABC information.

TikTok did not immediately respond to ABC information’ request for comment. Neither did Trump’s shift throng.

The president is expected to try to stop the ban of TikTok after he takes office, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with his views on the matter.

Here’s what to recognize about the different ways that Trump could try to stop the TikTok ban, according to experts:

Push Congress to repeal the TikTok ban

The most straightforward way to reverse the policy would be a repeal of the law that enacted the ban in the first place, experts told ABC information.

A repeal would require passage in both houses of Congress, landing the assess on Trump’s desk for his signature.

“The easiest way is to inquire Congress to reverse the ban,” Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, told ABC information. But, he added, it isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.

Congress voted in favor of the ban only seven months ago. In the House of Representatives, the ban passed by an overwhelming spread of 352-65. In the Senate, 79 members voted in favor of the assess, while 18 opposed and 3 abstained.

A repeal attempt carries political risks for Trump, since it could be perceived as conciliatory toward China, in contrast with the adversarial tone voiced by Trump on the campaign trail, James Lewis, a data safety specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC information.

“It’s a political issue,” Lewis said, noting that Trump could soften potential backlash by seeking a reform of the law rather than an outright repeal.

Trump may not require Congress to repeal the ban. A lawsuit against the ban brought by TikTok on First Amendment grounds currently stands before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Experts who spoke to ABC information said they expect the court to rule against TikTok, but the corporation could then appeal, potentially sending the case to the Supreme Court before the ban takes result. The Supreme Court may determine that the legal test holds sufficient merit to delay implementation of the ban, leading ultimately to a rejection of the law.

“The Supreme Court may desire a crack at this,” Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who focuses on the First Amendment, told ABC information.

Refuse to enforce the TikTok ban

Instead of repealing the law or counting on court intervention, Trump could try to prevent the fairness Department from enforcing the assess, experts said.

The law orders distributors like Apple and Google to stop offering the social media platform in their app stores, and it requires cloud service providers like Oracle to withhold the infrastructure essential for TikTok to operate.

Companies that violate the law hazard a penalty of $5,000 for each user who accesses TikTok. “That adds up,” Rozenshtein said.

In hypothesis, Trump’s fairness Department could opt against enforcement of the law, reassuring the likes of Apple and Oracle that the companies would not face prosecution in the occurrence of a violation, experts said.

Along similar lines, the Trump administration could receive up an interpretation of the ban that affords it wide latitude in finding that TikTok has complied with a requirement that it divest from parent corporation ByteDance, experts said.

In other words, even if TikTok has made little attempt to comply with the law, the Trump administration could attempt a reading of the assess that finds the corporation has met the threshold essential to avoid a ban, Rozenshtein said.

If Trump opts against enforcement, the shift could still prove insufficient. Companies like Apple and Oracle may decide to comply with the ban anyway, since they could face legal hazard if the Trump administration reverses its way, Rozenshtein added.

“Trump is mercurial,” Rozenshtein said. “If you are Apple’s general counsel, do you really desire this hanging over you?”

assist TikTok discover a U.S. buyer

Finally, Trump could try to discover a U.S. buyer for TikTok, allowing the platform to avoid a ban. This way may appeal to Trump’s self-image as a business dealmaker, but period is running short for such a significant business trade and TikTok has shown little appetite for it, experts said.

The law allows for a 90-day extension of the deadline for a TikTok sale, as long as the corporation is advancing toward an agreement. Under such a scenario, the deadline would shift back to April, providing Trump with additional period.

“It’s feasible that he’ll try to force TikTok to arrive to some benevolent of deal with American buyers,” Lewis said. “It’s not likely. TikTok will hold out as long as they can.”

China has signaled opposition to the sale of TikTok to a U.S. corporation, The Wall Street Journal reported in March.

Alternatively, Trump could seek a compromise assess in Congress that affords him additional period and wider latitude to establish a U.S.-based operation for TikTok, experts said. Or the Trump administration could propose up an interpretation of the law that gives it space to strike a compromise with TikTok.

TikTok previously proposed a answer called “assignment Texas,” in which the corporation would keep all data on U.S. users within the country through a collaboration with Oracle. When TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress last year, several members raised concern about a potential lack of third-event oversight in such an arrangement.

Trump could seek to assuage the concerns of members of Congress while reaching terms satisfactory to TikTok, Chander said.

“Trump may be able to do things that reassure the American people that the app is secure, and that it is bringing a lot of the programming here to U.S. soil,” Chander said.