TikTok says it will go dark Sunday in US without assurance from Biden

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TikTok warned late Friday it will go dark in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden's administration provides assurances to companies like Apple and Google that they will not face enforcement actions when a ban takes effect.

The statement came hours after the Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it, putting the popular short-video app on track to go dark in just two days.

The court's 9-0 decision throws the social media platform - and its 170 million American users - into limbo, and its fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescue TikTok after returning to the presidency on Monday.

"Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19," the company said.

The White House declined to comment.

Apple, Alphabet's Google, Oracle and others could face massive fines if they continue to provide services to TikTok after the ban takes effect.

The law was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Biden, though a growing chorus of lawmakers who voted for it are now seeking to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app's users challenged the law, but the Supreme Court decided that it did not violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech as they had argued.

ByteDance has done little to divest of TikTok by the Sunday deadline set under the law. But the app's shutdown might be brief. Trump, who in 2020 had tried to ban TikTok, has said he plans to take action to save the app.

"My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!" Trump said in a social media post.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend Trump's second inauguration on Monday in Washington.

Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed TikTok in a phone call on Friday.

'FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROL'

For years TikTok's Chinese ownership has raised concerns among U.S. leaders, and the TikTok fight has unfolded at a time of rising trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Lawmakers and Biden's administration have said China could use TikTok to amass data on millions of Americans for harassment, recruitment and espionage.

"TikTok's scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the government's national security concerns," the Supreme Court said in the unsigned opinion.

TikTok has become one of the most prominent social media platforms in the U.S., particularly among young people who use it for short-form videos, including many who use it as a platform for small businesses.

Some users reacted with shock that the ban could actually happen.

"Oh my god, I'm speechless," said Lourd Asprec, 21, of Houston, who has amassed 16.3 million followers on TikTok and makes an estimated $80,000 a year from the platform. "I don't even care about China stealing my data. They can take all my data from me. Like, if anything, I'll go to China myself and give them my data."

The company's powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users short videos tailored to their liking. The platform presents a vast collection of user-submitted videos, that can be viewed with a smart phone app or on the internet.

As the Jan. 19 deadline approached, millions of users jumped to other Chinese-owned apps like RedNote, finding they had to decipher its all-Mandarin platform to kickstart their feeds.

"China is adapting in real-time to the ruling," said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, which submitted a brief in the case against TikTok. "Beijing isn't just building apps; it's building a discourse power ecosystem to shape global narratives and influence societies."

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the ruling affirmed that the law protects U.S. national security.

"Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to millions of Americans' sensitive data," Garland added.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The Biden administration has emphasized that TikTok could continue operating if it is freed from China's control. The White House said on Friday that Biden will not take any action to save TikTok.

Biden has not formally invoked a 90-day delay in the deadline as allowed by the law.

"This decision’s going to be made by the next president anyway," Biden told reporters.

The law bars providing certain services to TikTok and other foreign adversary-controlled apps including by offering it through app stores such as Apple and Google.

Google declined to comment on Friday. Apple and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said action to implement the law "must fall to the next administration" while the Justice Department said "implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time."

TikTok said those statements "have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans."

A viable buyer could still emerge, or Trump could invoke a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, stating that keeping TikTok is beneficial for national security.

Only one notable bidder has emerged so far - Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, who said he believes TikTok is worth about $20 billion without its algorithm.

"Beijing needs TikTok more than Washington does," said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow and expert in U.S.-China relations at the Hudson Institute think tank.

"With that leverage, Trump has a better chance of getting what he wants: TikTok’s continued operation in America without any national security threats."

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Is TikTok banned? Can you still use it? What to know after ban upheld by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court officially upheld the law to ban the TikTok social media app on Friday.

The case has become a pivotal moment in the debate over free speech and national security, following President Joe Biden's new act to ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based parent company, ByteDance, does not sell its U.S. assets by January 19, 2025. The ban will make it illegal to distribute the app through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last Friday from TikTok, which claims the ban is a breach of Americans’ First Amendment rights. TikTok called the ban a “massive, unprecedented restriction” on free speech. At the same time, the Justice Department said the restriction is not on speech but on a foreign adversary’s ability to control a widely used means of communication.

And after more than a week, the court upheld the law that would effectively ban the app.

TikTok logo is seen in this illustration taken January 8, 2025.
TikTok logo is seen in this illustration taken January 8, 2025.

Biden won't enforce ban; decision now up to Trump

Days before the SCOTUS decision was reached, Biden said he would not enforce the ban, sowing confusion amongst its users. Despite this, TikTok announced this week that it was preparing to shut down the platform on its own on Sunday if the ban indeed goes into effect, per multiple reports.

"President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law," a White House spokesperson said Friday. "Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday."

Heads are now turning to Trump, who took to social media minutes before the ban was upheld to say he’d just spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok and other issues.

“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” he said. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

After the SCOTUS decision was announced, Trump told CNN he would be making a final decision after taking office. “It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” he said. “Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision."

He later posted again on Truth Social, saying, "The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!"

It is still unclear what this will mean for the millions of American users of the app.

TikTok shares comment on SCOTUS decision on app

In a post to the official TikTok and X accounts made around 12:30 p.m. ET, roughly two and a half hours after the SCOTUS decision was announced, TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew shared a hopeful message to American users, saying he will be working with President Trump to keep the platform available in the U.S.

"I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship," he said. "We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform - one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process."

"Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives as your online home for limitless creativity and discovery as well as a source of inspiration and joy for years to come," he finished.

TikTok has not responded to questions about the future of the app and what will happen to it come Sunday.

Read TikTok CEO's full statement below

"Hi everyone, it's Shou here. As you know, we have been fighting to protect the constitutional right to free speech for the more than 170 million Americans who use our platform every day to connect, create, discover and achieve their dreams.

On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. As we've said, TikTok is a place where people can create communities, discover new interests, and express themselves, including over 7 million American businesses who earn a living and gain new customers using our platform.

We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform - one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process.

To our American users, thank you for making our TikTok community such a rich and vibrant space for surprising and delighting us every day. Rest assured will we do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives as your online home for limitless creativity and discovery as well as a source of inspiration and joy for years to come. Thank you, more to come."

Will I still be able to use TikTok after Saturday?

Under TikTok’s reported plan to shutter the platform in the U.S. on Sunday, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, Reuters reported, citing sources who requested anonymity as the matter is not public.

The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, reports say.

And while Shou has expressed hope for saving the app by working with Trump, Alan Rozenshtein, an expert on the law and technology policy at the University of Minnesota Law School, said none of Trump’s options are “particularly promising.”

“The bottom line?” Rozenshtein wrote in an analysis posted on Lawfare.  “There are a lot of moving pieces and it's foolish to make particularly confident predictions, but the most likely outcome is that TikTok goes dark on the 19th and stays that way for the immediate future.”

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