America's TikTok ban will be President Trump's first big test

Trump has delayed action but will still have to abide by US law

- Barbara L. McQuade

President Donald Trump will be tested early after having taken charge of the Oval Office in the US White House. Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law requiring the popular social media app TikTok to be divested in favor of non-Chinese ownership by its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or be banned. The court rejected the social media company's argument that the law violated the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its content creators. On Sunday, the app went 'dark' in the US [but on Monday, Trump issued an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days].

Yet, as president, it will be Trump's duty to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." That means he will have to enforce the statute.

The ban, passed with large bipartisan support and signed into law by former US president Joe Biden in April, was designed to protect the private data of US users from a hostile foreign adversary.