TikTok has announced that it will be forced to “go dark” in the United States on Sunday unless the government intervenes before a ban is implemented.
Late on Friday, it stated that the White House and the Department of Justice had “failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability”.
It stated that unless the government immediately intervened to ensure that the video app would not be punished for violating the impending ban, it would be “forced to go dark on January 19”.
The statement follows a Supreme Court decision earlier on Friday that upheld a law prohibiting the app in the United States unless its Chinese parent company, Byte Dance, sells the platform by Sunday.
The law, which was passed in April of last year, requires Byte Dance to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party in order to avoid an outright ban.
TikTok challenged the law, claiming that it violates the free speech rights of the country’s 170 million users.
However, the Supreme Court’s decision means that the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web hosting services unless a buyer is found within the next few days.
It was thought that the ban would not affect TikTok users who already had the app installed on their phones.
However, once the ban is implemented, updates will be unavailable, and the app will gradually degrade and become unusable.
TikTok’s new statement on Friday, however, suggests that it may become immediately unavailable to all existing users as well as those attempting to download it.
Influencers and content creators have been posting videos on the app to say goodbye to their followers ahead of the impending ban.
One creator, Nicole Bloom garden, told the BBC that not being on TikTok would result in a significant salary cut, while another, Erika Thompson, stated that the platform’s educational content would be the “biggest loss” to the community.
Some users have been announcing where their content will be available to view next, including on the Chinese video app Red Note, which has previously received little use from American users.
President Joe Biden’s term ends on Monday, and Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next president on that day. According to the White House, the incoming president will be responsible for enforcing the law.
Trump has indicated that he is opposed to the ban, despite initially supporting it. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation,” according to what he said Friday.
He also revealed that he spoke with China’s President Xi Jinping about TikTok, among other topics.
In December, Trump said he had a “warm spot” for the app because it helped him connect with young voters in the 2024 election.
Trump’s remarks represented a shift from his stance during his first term as president, when he planned to enact a similar ban via executive order.
Byte Dance has vowed not to sell TikTok and has announced that the app’s US operations will be shut down on Sunday unless there is a reprieve.
Last year, Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app, citing concerns about its ties to the Chinese government. TikTok has consistently stated that it does not share information with Beijing.
The potential ban comes at a time when the US is increasingly concerned about Chinese espionage.
Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app can collect data from users beyond what they see on TikTok.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that authoritarian regimes should not have “unfettered access” to Americans’ data, and the decision prevented China from “weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.”
China passed legislation in 2017 requiring Chinese nationals living abroad to cooperate with its intelligence agencies.
However, Beijing has denied pressuring companies to collect information on its behalf and criticized the ban. TikTok has repeatedly stated that it has not been asked for its data.
The app argued that the law violates free speech and would harm its users, advertisers, content creators, and employees. TikTok employs approximately 7,000 people in the United States.
How did we get here?
24 April 2024: Biden signs bipartisan TikTok bill, which gave Chinese parent company, Byte Dance, six months to sell its controlling stake or be blocked in the US.
7 May 2024: TikTok files a lawsuit aiming to block the law, calling it an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights”.
2 August 2024: The US government files a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media company of unlawfully collecting children’s data and failing to respond when parents tried to delete their children’s accounts.
6 December 2024: TikTok’s bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 is rejected by a federal appeals court.
27 December 2024: President-elect Donald Trump asks the US Supreme Court to delay the upcoming ban while he works on a “political resolution”.
10 January 2025: The Supreme Court’s nine justices hear from lawyers representing TikTok and content creators that the ban would be a violation of free speech protections for the platform’s more than 170 million users in the US.
17 January 2025: The US Supreme Court upholds the law that could lead to TikTok being banned within days over national security concerns.
19 January 2025: The deadline for TikTok to sell its US stake or face a ban. TikTok has indicated it will “go dark” on this day.
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