Trump’s rebellion against banning Tiktok has prompted 10 high-tech companies to promise immunity
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has told at least 10 high-tech companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google, that he is “not responsible” for supporting Tiktok. Federal ban According to the company, it is about providing services to popular video sharing apps. Letters disclosed on Thursday.
Under an order from President Donald Trump, Bondi refused to enforce the law passed in Congress last year. This classifies the law classifying Tiktok as a national security risk, as it bans its relationship with China and businesses from distributing the app to US consumers.
Tiktok explains that Chinese companies can dodge the ban by reducing ownership in their US businesses, and Trump is ongoing negotiations for them. But constitutional experts question the legality of Trump’s executive orders, and delay enforcement of the ban as sales talks were dragged down.
Early this year, Tiktok disappeared from the US app store Apple and Google after the ban was enacted. But even though the law is still in the book, Tiktok returned to the store. After just 26 days off. Several media outlets reported that Bondi had written to Apple and Google that they had promised they would not face prosecution. However, the letter was not published until Thursday.
Silicon Valley Software Engineer Tony Tan had sought a letter under the Freedom of Information Act. The Justice Department initially argued that there was no record matching Tan’s request. He sued the department, which ended up publishing several letters to him on Thursday.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The disclosure shows that the first letter was sent on January 30th and rapidly to four companies: Microsoft, Google, Apple and content delivery network providers. “Google did not violate this law and Google was not liable under the law during the covered period,” wrote then Attorney General James Mchenry. “Google may continue to provide services to Tiktok, as envisaged in the executive order, without breaching the law, without taking any liability.”
Bondi took over as Attorney General in early February, and a few days later Google and Apple wrote separate letters to her. In a response dated February 11th, Bondy wrote, “The Justice Department is also irreparably waiving claims that the US may have opposed.”
After Microsoft asked, I also received a letter on March 10th saying, “I will irreparably abandon my claim.” Similar languages were included in Amazon, Data Center Company Digital Realty and mobile phone service giant T-Mobile on March 10th.
In early April, Trump extended the window of negotiations for Tiktok’s sale, further delaying enforcement of the ban. That led to a 10-character round on April 5th, including content distribution provider Akamai, cloud vendor Oracle, and television maker LG. In those letters, only Apple and Google letters mentioned the vows they would “irrevocably give up.” However, three days later, Bondi sent a new version to Microsoft, including the language.
Microsoft and nine other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After obtaining the letter, Tan submitted an a last month. I’m misunderstoodG accusing Google’s parent company Alphabet of withholding information about its decision to continue distributing Tiktok in its Play Store. (Google previously refused to comment on Wired in the lawsuit.) He worries that the promises from Bondi are not binding and that Trump or the future president could end up prosecuting a tech company currently supporting Tiktok. Google could face a multi-billion dollar fine if found in violation of the ban.