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Cake day: August 5th, 2023

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  • The law stipulates that the POTUS is the person who determines that a platform or app is in violation. Once that happens, an investigation is launched through the AG’s office and applicable agencies. After that the AG’s office makes a determination about whether or not the app/platform is in violation of the law. Once that happens, the platform or app can appeal. But if they lose that appeal then they have a limited time to divest to another entity before their platform is banned and the POTUS can pause not revoke this process for a period of time (to give the app time to divest as is required). So basically Trump now has given Tik Tok a stay of execution so to speak but that doesn’t mean they won’t be forced to shut down or divest.

    This was a direct politically planned and intended effect of this push so close to the inauguration, so far as I can tell. It’s politicians doing political stuff.

    Right now he looks like the savior (and that’s intentional, both Tik Tok and Trump get something out of that). But in the long term I don’t know that most Tik Tok users are going to remember that Trump bought the app back and to actually remove the law requires an act of Congress. That will take more time than the limited amount that Trump can essentially delay the removal of the app from app stores and American servers.

    I honestly think this was a fuck you to Trump from Biden because essentially Biden’s political career is over. Trump is going to do a lot of damage over the next 4 years and do as much as he can to undo any of the progress that has been made. It’s kind of a petty move on Biden’s part, but Trump started this colossal movement against Tik Tok in the first place.











  • Sigh. H. R. 7521 stipulates that the POTUS must make the determination using data supplied from several federal agencies etc that an app or service violates the terms laid out in the law. Then a formal investigation will be launched by the AG’s office and if that investigation finds that the app or service is in violation of the law that app or service will be added to a list of apps or services not allowed to be disseminated to the public via American based app stores. That app or service does have the right to appeal the decision within a specific time frame and appeals will be handled by the appropriate district court. At that point if they win the appeal they continue to operate. If they lose the appeal they can do what is called a qualified divestiture so that they would no longer be operating in conflict with the law. Or they can do what Tik Tok did and remove access without the law even being enforced.

    So, yes, Trump can just not name Tik Tok as in violation of the law, the AG won’t investigate it, and nothing will come of it.

    https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521/text