No challengers to Trump's TikTok ban extension

President Trump’s critics were quick to declare his 75-day pause on TikTok’s shutdown illegal — but nearly two weeks later, nobody has sued to stop it.

The social media platform, which Congress found to be a national security threat, went down for several hours the day before Mr. Trump was sworn in, but it quickly revived and has been running as usual.

Experts said the lack of a lawsuit is because the law falls into a gray area where it’s not clear anyone has a legal injury, so it may be impossible for anyone to sue.

“No one can claim they’re suffering a legal injury from TikTok’s continued operation — except the U.S. government, but it’s the government that, through President Trump, gave the extension,” said Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center.

The relative quiet is striking, given the intense action ahead of the Jan. 19 shutdown deadline.

Under the law, ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, was supposed to divest the app or else it was to be stricken from U.S. markets and platforms. A series of legal challenges sped through the courts, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling just days before the deadline.

The justices, during oral argument, had even sounded skeptical about the legality of what happened — a brief shutdown followed by a restoration, based on Mr. Trump’s vow not to prosecute.

“I am instructing the attorney general not to take any action to enforce the act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” Mr. Trump said in a directive signed soon after his swearing-in.

He said he wants to broker a deal that would see TikTok controlled by a U.S. entity,

“I have spoken to many people about TikTok, and there is great interest in TikTok,” the president told reporters.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said a lawsuit would take more time than just waiting for Mr. Trump to broker a sale.

“Once Trump said he is going to make a deal, everyone thinks he is going to make a deal,” Mr. Blackman said.

Mr. Huebert said the delay has benefitted TikTok users such as BASED Politics, his client and one of the app’s users that challenged the legality of the law.

“The extension is great news for our clients because it means they can continue to reach the unique audience they’ve found on TikTok,” he said. “With the Supreme Court’s decision in our case, our work for them is done, but we’re glad they can continue speaking for now and hopeful that President Trump will find a long-term solution that respects free speech.”

TikTok is a U.S.-based company, but its primary social media app uses computer source code from ByteDance, including the algorithm that decides which content to promote.

Congress approved the legislation with strong bipartisan support in April, and Mr. Biden signed it into law. The legislation gave ByteDance 270 days to sell the company.

TikTok said a divestiture was impossible in that timeframe, and said the law amounts to a ban on the app for American users.

Mr. Trump had urged the justices to delay implementation of the law, but they did not comply.

• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.