Senator says Trump cannot ignore law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok by next year

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chair of a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee said on Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump cannot ignore a law requiring Chinese-based TikTok to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans by early next year.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who is holding a hearing on Chinese hacking incidents, noted that Congress passed a law in April requiring divestiture of the app by Jan. 19, unless President Joe Biden grants a one-time extension of up to 90 days. Trump has said he opposes a TikTok ban.

“He can’t ignore the law,” Blumenthal said. “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.”