The clock may be running out for TikTok. The company behind the wildly popular social media platform says it will “go dark” on Sunday unless it receives clear assurances from government officials that the US ban that comes into force on that day will not be enforced.
In a Friday evening post on social media platform XTikTok said statements issued by the White House and the Justice Department “failed to provide the necessary clarity and certainty” to service providers needed to make TikTok available in the United States.
“If the Biden administration does not immediately issue a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers with assurances that it is not being enforced, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19,” the statement said.
The US Supreme Court earlier on Friday declined TikTok's request to overturn a law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year that would effectively banned the app in the US if TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it to a buyer that US officials deem suitable by Sunday, January 19.
The nation's highest court rejected TikTok's argument that the ban would violate the US company's free speech rights, as well as the rights of its 170 million active US users. Instead, she sided with the government's case that the ban was not about free speech at all, but that ownership and national security.
The White House issued a statement on Friday saying that Biden's position on TikTok has not changed. He still believes that TikTok should remain available to Americans, but under ownership that satisfies the government's national security concerns.
“Given the very fact of the timing, this administration recognizes that law enforcement activities simply must fall to the next administration, which takes office on Monday,” the statement said.
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Lawmakers in both political parties have long expressed concerns that TikTok could be a national security threat and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to further China's agenda.
TikTok continues to deny those allegations. Before a vote in Congress earlier this year, TikTok has gathered its users in the USurging them to urge their representatives on Capitol Hill to vote for a ban. But the measure ultimately passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress and was signed by Biden.
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But President-elect Donald Trump, who pushed for a ban during his first term, now says he no longer favors one. Before oral arguments, Trump's lawyers filed an amicus brief in the case. They did not take sides, but asked the court to delay the ban to give Trump time to make a “political resolution.”
In a video posted Friday afternoon on TikTok and other social media platforms, TikTok CEO Shou Chew did not say what TikTok plans to do or what its American users will see when they open their apps after the deadline. Instead, he thanked Trump for promising to work with TikTok to find a solution that would keep the app running in the US.
“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 thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process.” ” said Chew.
So what's next for MPs and TikTok? Here's what you need to know.
What does the law do?
The law aims to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer that US authorities are OK with, as well as ensure that ByteDance no longer has access to US user data or control over the TikTok algorithm that decides what videos US users watch.
TikTok was given nine months to comply, hence the January 19 deadline, at which point the government can demand its app be removed from US app stores. The president could grant a 90-day extension. Earlier this week, a pair of Senate Democrats announced llegislation that would give TikTok another nine monthsbut was blocked by Republicans.
TikTok has long said that selling is not an option. As it said in its announcement on Friday X, TikTok could effectively choose to “go dark” if the ban goes into effect. It's also possible for the app to die a slow death. It won't shut down, but it will no longer be available in the Google and Apple app stores, and current users won't be able to get software updates, which would ultimately make the app too cluttered to use.
Biden, who signed the bill establishing those requirements, remains in office until Inauguration Day on January 20.
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What's next?
After initially calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he was not in favor of such a thing and promised to “save TikTok,” though he did not specify how he would do so.
During a press conference in December, Trump pointed to the role TikTok played during the election, crediting it with helping him garner the youth vote.
“TikTok had an impact and that's why we're looking at it,” Trump told reporters. “I have a little warm place in my heart. I'll be honest.
Trump he said in March on CNBC's Squawk Box that while he still saw the app as a national security threat, he no longer thought it should be banned, saying, “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who are going to go crazy without it.”
Trump added that banning TikTok would only increase the power of Facebook, which he called “the enemy of the people.”
In September, Trump promised that “know TikTok“, according to an Associated Press report. But during the interview that aired last month on Meet the PressTrump did not directly say whether or how he would help TikTok avoid a ban.
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Who opposed the TikTok ban?
Free speech and digital rights groups, as well as some security experts, have long opposed the idea of a ban, saying that singling out TikTok does nothing to address broader problems with social media. Several have filed petitions in the high court supporting TikTok.
Instead, they argue, lawmakers would be better off enacting comprehensive digital privacy laws that would protect Americans' personal information by regulating the ability of all social media companies to collect, share and sell it.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's director of civil liberties, David Green, who co-authored it amicus brief filed with the court late last month, said the EFF was “deeply disappointed” that the court chose to consider free speech issues in the case and instead focus on the government's “vexing data privacy concerns.”
He noted that America's enemies have no shortage of other ways to steal, scrape or buy Americans' data.
“Banning or forcing the sale of one social media app will do virtually nothing to protect Americans' data privacy — only comprehensive consumer privacy legislation can accomplish that goal,” Green said in the EFF statement.