Looks like Biden and TikTok are going to keep squabbling right up to the inauguration

Operating with the laser focus and firm eye on priorities that we’ve come to expect from this administration, it’s looking increasingly likely that some of the very final statements from the Joe Biden White House, the final pieces of the historical record that will solidify its lasting legacy in American history, are going to be about fucking TikTok, of all things. The U.S. government and the Chinese-owned video sharing platform have continued to snipe at each other throughout the last weekend of Biden’s presidency, with outgoing press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeling the social media company’s plans to go dark on Sunday, January 19—the day enforcement of the law banning the company’s operations in America goes into effect—a “stunt.” TikTok’s policy account on Twitter/X has then fired back, saying that the government’s admittedly wishy-washy verbal commitments to not make this a whole thing (basically, tacitly promising not to enforce the law, because who would want this to suck up your last gasps of political air, right?) isn’t good enough, so it’s big blackout tantrum time.