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TikTok plans to shut down its app in the US beginning Sunday, unless the Supreme Court comes in with an 11th-hour move to block the ban.
TikTok is gearing up to shut down its app and pull it from the app stores for users in the US beginning Sunday, when the federal ban on the app could come into effect. That is, unless the Supreme Court moves to block the ban, according to people close to the matter.
The law mandates a ban starting January 19 on new TikTok downloads on Apple and Google app stores should parent company ByteDance not divest the app to a US company before then. This ban only affects new downloads, while existing users could continue using it until updates cease.
TikTok owner ByteDance might take things further, however. According to details tipped by Reuters, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban. The company also plans to give users the option to download all their data from the platform, to “take a record of their personal information.”
Sources report that shutting down services doesn’t require significant planning. Should the ban be reversed later, TikTok would be able to restore service for US users with relative ease.
Last April, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to sell its US assets by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban.
The US Supreme Court last week seemed inclined to uphold the law, despite some lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump calling to extend the deadline. Trump’s inauguration comes the day after the law goes into effect, but he has indicated an interest in looking to reverse the ban.
ByteDance and TikTok have been seeking to delay the implementation of the law, which they insist violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment. But the courts have, thus far, disagreed with that sentiment.
