- The Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel redefined 'ownership' in a TikTok ban law to mean 'controlling stake,' allowing government devices to use the app again even though ByteDance still holds a 19.9% stake.
- The law, passed under Senator Josh Hawley, banned TikTok on government devices based on ByteDance ownership, but the OLC argued that the new joint venture is controlled by US interests, so the ban no longer applies.
- Critics argue this reinterpretation exposes the moral panic behind the TikTok ban as exaggerated, with political convenience dictating legal definitions rather than consistent principles.