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CapCut, the ByteDance-owned video editing app that’s subject to the same ban as TikTok, is working again in the US.
Users who have the app downloaded have seen a notice on Tuesday welcoming them back to the service and thanking them for their “patience and support.” The notice appears to come after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the night after his inauguration instructing federal enforcers not to take action against service providers subject to the law for 75 days.
Screenshot by The Verge
While the order was meant to quash concerns for service providers that could face billions in fines for violating federal law and maintaining the app now that the sale deadline has passed, legal experts say it does little to actually dispense of the legal risk. Perhaps as a result, even though some of CapCut’s US service providers appear to be cooperating with Trump’s wishes to get the app back online, it still doesn’t appear in Apple or Google’s app stores — similar to TikTok.
Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps owned by China-based ByteDance were required to be sold to a non-adversary entity by January 19th to continue operating in the US. Instead of making a deal, however, the company pursued its legal options and ultimately lost at the Supreme Court. Trump is now trying to broker a “joint venture” that gives the US 50 percent ownership over TikTok to save it from the ban, though that idea also appears to have its own risky legal implications.