
Prof. Alan Rozenshtein Quoted in Washington Post About Trump Considering Executive Order to Preserve TikTok
Professor Alan Rozenshtein was quoted in the Washington Post about Donald Trump is considering an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban-or-sale law for 60 to 90 days, buying the administration time to negotiate a sale or alternative solution — a legally questionable effort to win a brief reprieve for the Chinese-owned app now scheduled to be banned on Sunday nationwide. The Supreme Court, may allow the law to ban the app to proceed as planned but has not yet issued a ruling. The law is aimed at addressing Justice Department concerns that the Chinese government could covertly use the app to spy on Americans or broadcast propaganda. But the strategy of using an executive order has fueled doubts among some legal observers, who argue the president’s word can’t entirely overcome a law that Congress approved with overwhelming bipartisan support. Prof. Rozenshtein said executive orders “are not magical documents. They’re just press releases with nicer stationery. TikTok will still be banned, and it will still be illegal for Apple and Google to do business with them. But it will make the president’s intention not to enforce the law that much more official.”