TikTok Prepares To Shutdown App In US On Sunday – Report

Multiple media reports, citing sources familiar with the matter, have reported that TikTok plans to shutdown its US operations on Sunday.

Reuters, citing its own unnamed sources, reported that TikTok plans to shut the app in the US on Sunday 19 January – the deadline when a federal ban is set to take effect. Other media outlets have also reported the same.

To be fair Chinese owner ByteDance has always stated that it would shutter the app in the US (much to the dismay of its 170 million American users), rather than comply with the US divest or ban order.

Image credit: Unsplash

TikTok ban

US President Joe Biden had in April 2024 signed a bill that gave Chinese owner ByteDance up to a year to divest TikTok, or face a nationwide ban across the United States.

ByteDance is facing a divest deadline for a sale of TikTok by Sunday 19 January 2025.

After that deadline, Internet service providers (ISPs) would be penalised for supporting TikTok’s operations in the country.

TikTok had earlier this week denied a Bloomberg report that the Chinese government was considering a plan that would see Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s US operations, in order to keep the app from being effectively banned in America.

A TikTok spokesperson said in an email to CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”

Now Reuters noted that TikTok users who have already downloaded the app would theoretically still be able to use the app, except that the law also bars US companies starting Sunday from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of it.

The Washington Post meanwhile reported President-elect Donald Trump, whose term begins on Monday 20 January, a day after the start of the ban, is considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days.

The report did not say how Trump could legally do so.

Supreme Court

Last month a US appeals court had rejected TikTok’s effort to overturn the law that would force it to divest its business in the country or face a ban.

TikTok however took its appeal to the US Supreme Court, after previously warning that the US ban would have ‘staggering’ effects.

The Supreme Court late last week heard oral arguments from both sides, but it was reported that the Supreme Court appeared to side with the US government over its divest or ban order.

Also last week, it was reported that a consortium lead by an American billionaire (Frank McCourt) has made a takeover approach to acquire TikTok’s US assets.

Trump intervention?

It remains to be seen whether Trump, who in his first term had favoured a ban on TikTok, will intervene, after he has changed his mind on a TikTok ban.

Late last month, Trump had urged the Supreme Court to intervene and forcibly delay implementation of Biden’s ban to give him time to find a “political resolution.”

The Associated Press reported that Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, said in an interview on Wednesday that the president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok.

Waltz made the comment when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him about a report from The Washington Post that said Trump was considering an executive order to suspend enforcement of a federal law that could ban the popular platform nationwide by Sunday.

“He’s a deal maker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in place,” he was quoted by AP as stating.

Separately on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, dodged a question during a Senate hearing on whether she’d uphold a TikTok ban.

Tom Jowitt

Tom Jowitt is a leading British tech freelancer and long standing contributor to Silicon UK. He is also a bit of a Lord of the Rings nut...

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