Will Trump’s executive order save TikTok? Experts weigh in.

Within hours of his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the enforcement of a TikTok ban that had taken result the previous day.

The shift tossed a lifeline to TikTok — and its 170 million users in the United States.

Responses varied among the third-event companies responsible for keeping the app operational. Hosting firms made TikTok available for users on Tuesday, while app stores declined to carry it.

Even after the executive order, the fate of TikTok remains highly doubtful, legal and tech policy analysts told ABC information. The executive order could face legal challenges, while the app may degrade over the coming months without user updates delivered via the app store, they said.

Still, TikTok could avert a ban, they added, since China-based parent corporation ByteDance may sell the app — or Trump could seek a repeal of the law that banned it in the first place.

“At this point, anything is feasible,” Sarah Kreps, the director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, told ABC information.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to ABC information’ request for comment. Neither did TikTok.

TikTok remains available — for now

The executive order urges the attorney general to forgo enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, seeking to reassure the companies that maintain the digital infrastructure upon which the app relies. It also calls on the attorney general to send letters to each corporation reaffirming the policy of non-enforcement.

TikTok briefly went dim on Sunday in the initial hours after the ban took result, but the app restored operation later that day, citing back from Trump.

Companies that violate the law uncertainty a penalty of $5,000 for each user who accesses TikTok.

“At 170 million users, that’s $850 billion dollars in obligation that could be imposed on the corporation at any instant if the government chooses to enforce the law,” Timothy Edgar, a computer science professor at Brown University and a former national safety official, told ABC information.

Companies that deliver web back for TikTok – including Oracle and Akamai Technologies – appear to have found enough reassurance to continue servicing the app, experts told ABC information.

“The essential services have been switched back on,” Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, told ABC information.

Oracle did not immediately respond to ABC information’ request for comment. Neither did Akamai.

Since the ban took result, however, app stores run by Apple and Google have barred recent users from downloading the app and prevented existing users from updating it.

Without updates, the app is expected to degrade in standard over period through inconveniences such as video-loading delays and act glitches, though the app could likely remain functional for the duration of Trump’s 75-day extension and potentially longer, some experts said.

“I don’t ponder 75 days will be a issue, and I question six months would be much of a issue. If it goes into a number of years, that could be a issue,” Edgar told ABC information.

Apple did not immediately respond to ABC information’ request for comment. Neither did Google.

TikTok executive order may trigger lawsuits

Supporters of the TikTok ban may sue the Trump administration over its apparent refusal to faithfully execute a assess enshrined in U.S. law, experts said. In truth, most analysts who spoke to ABC information said such a court test is likely to be filed.

The Trump administration retains latitude in setting its law enforcement priorities, focusing its resources on some areas of federal law while pulling them away from others, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law who studies tech-related issues, told ABC information.

However, Vishnubhakat added, Trump may have violated his executive-branch responsibility by explicitly stating plans to abandon enforcement of the TikTok ban, Vishnubhakat added.

“To formalize it this way is unusual,” Vishnubhakat said. “As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any such authority.”

The extension offered up by Trump is divide from a 90-day extension that was included in the ban law. Under that stipulation, a sitting president could pause the ban as long as TikTok credibly shows advancement toward a sale.

Rather than make reference to that facet of the ban law, Trump established a divide avenue devoid of conditions and centered on a potential TikTok sale, Chander said.

“The executive order doesn’t inform us what legal authority the president is relying on,” Chander added.

The executive order does note, however, that the national safety interests at stake in the ban are typically the purview of the executive branch, Edgar said. In hypothesis, he added, the Trump administration could appeal to such powers as justification for the powers commanded under the executive order.

“Though Trump may be going beyond the note of the law, he’s invoked national safety arguments,” Edgar said. “I ponder the court would declare, ‘I don’t ponder we should have someone outside the executive branch enforce the law.’”

TikTok could sell or Congress could repeal the ban

The executive order issued by Trump may boost TikTok crucial period to explore a sale, experts told ABC information.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump indicated that he would assist facilitate a sale of TikTok, which would put it in lawful operation with the law.

“TikTok is worthless, worthless if I don’t approve it, it has to close,” Trump said. “I learned that from the people that own it. If I don’t do the deal, it’s worthless.”

Trump said that there should be at least 50% U.S. ownership of the app, though it remained ambiguous whether he meant that the U.S. government should retain part ownership of TikTok or a private U.S.-based investor should assume such control.

The ban law requires that TikTok discover a non-adversary owner, but it does not require the app to discover a parent corporation based in the U.S.

Ownership of TikTok by the federal government, meanwhile, would now an unusual scenario in which the U.S. held a large receive in a major media firm, Chander said. The shift could raise questions about the potential role of the government in editorial choices made by the corporation, he added.

“This is a very puzzling concept,” Chander said.

Setting aside a potential sale, Trump may be buying himself period to marshall the votes in Congress to repeal the TikTok ban, some experts said.

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

Congress voted in favor of the ban nine 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.

Since then, however, Trump has voiced his disapproval of the assess and Republicans have taken control of both chambers.

The prospects for a repeal remain in question, Vishnubhakat said. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ar., and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Ne, who both voted in favor of the ban, issued a statement on Sunday warning companies against working with TikTok in defiance of the law.

The statement suggests Trump may discover hardship persuading Congress to repeal the law, Vishnubhakat said.

“My sense is the president’s political influence over Republicans in both houses of Congress remains quite powerful but not especially on this issue,” Vishnubhakat added.