The United States President-elect Donald Trump is considering using an executive order to prevent the TikTok app from being blocked in the counrty.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The order would suspend enforcement of the law, which required TikTok to be either blocked or sold on January 19, for 60 to 90 days.

This will be giving Mr Trump’s administration time to negotiate a sale or find another solution.

The report noted however that from a legal perspective, the action was rather disputable.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration is also looking for ways to keep the app available in the U.S., NBC News reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The White House is reportedly seeking to apply the law banning TikTok in a way that would allow U.S. users to access the app when the law goes into effect on Sunday.

Earlier this week, The Information news portal reported that TikTok was preparing to shut down its app for U.S. users on January 19.

In April 2024, Mr Biden signed a law forcing TikTok owner ByteDance to find an American owner for the app.

If this does not happen by January 19, the app will be banned in the U.S.

However, Mr Trump has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the implementation of the ban to have time to resolve the dispute after his inauguration on January 20.

This is according to a document obtained by RIA Novosti.

TikTok, launched in 2018, remains under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, who fear the app may be sharing user data with the Chinese government or spreading propaganda.

TikTok has consistently denied the allegations.

The app has about 170 million users in the U.S.

(NAN)