U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, his first day back in office, signed an executive order postponing the country’s ban of TikTok for 75 days. But whether this move was lawful is up in the air.
The ban — signed into law by the Biden administration and upheld by the Supreme Court — gave the Chinese parent company ByteDance until Sunday to sell its stake in the popular social media platform or have it outlawed in the U.S.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had alleged TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to spy on U.S. citizens.
But there are few signs Trump had the power to override the law.
“Executive orders cannot override existing laws,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute.
The law has a provision that allows a 90-day extension if there has been progress toward a sale before its effective …