TikTok Divestiture Mandate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chair of a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee stated on Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump must comply with a law requiring Chinese-based TikTok to divest its short video app, which is used by 170 million Americans, by early next year.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, emphasized this during a hearing on Chinese hacking incidents. He mentioned that Congress passed a law in April mandating divestiture of the app by January 19, unless President Joe Biden grants a one-time extension of up to 90 days. Despite Trump's opposition to a TikTok ban, Blumenthal reiterated, "He can't ignore the law. If he wants to change the law, he can try, but I can tell him and tell the American people — sentiment is pretty strong here in favor of that law."