Written by Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok warned late on Friday that it will disappear in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden's administration provides assurances to companies like Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google that they will not face enforcement action when the ban goes into 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 out of business in just two days.
The court's 9-0 decision has put the social media platform — and its 170 million American users — into limbo, with its fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who vowed to save TikTok after returning to the presidency on Monday.
“Unless the Biden administration immediately provides a final statement to satisfy the most critical service providers to ensure non-implementation, unfortunately, TikTok will be forced to cease operations on January 19,” the company said.
The White House declined to comment.
Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Google, Oracle (NYSE:) and others could face huge fines if they continue to provide services to TikTok after the ban goes into effect.
The law was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Biden, though a growing group 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 it did not violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections against government curtailment of free speech as they argued.
ByteDance did little to divest TikTok by the law's Sunday deadline. But closing the application may be short-lived. Trump, who in 2020 tried to ban TikTok, 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 should have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump said in a post on social media.
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.
“Control foreign adversaries”
For years, TikTok's Chinese ownership has raised concerns among American leaders, and the TikTok battle is unfolding at a time of rising trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Lawmakers and the Biden administration have said China could use TikTok to collect data on millions of Americans for the purposes of harassment, recruitment and espionage.
“TikTok’s size and susceptibility to foreign adversaries’ control, along with the vast amounts of sensitive data collected by the platform, justify preferential 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 United States, especially among young people who use it for short 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 Lord Asbrick, 21, of Houston, who has amassed 16.3 million followers on TikTok and earns an estimated $80,000 annually from the platform. “I don't even care about China stealing my data. They can take all my data from me. Like, if anything happens, I will go to China myself and give them my data.”
The company's powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users with short videos tailored to their liking. The platform offers a wide range of user-submitted videos, which can be watched using a smartphone app or online.
As the January 19 deadline approached, millions of users jumped to other Chinese-owned apps like RedNote, finding they had to decode its entire platform from Mandarin to launch their feeds.
“China is adapting in real time to governance,” said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, who filed a brief in the case against TikTok. “Beijing is not just building apps, it is building an ecosystem of the power of rhetoric to shape global narratives and influence societies.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the ruling confirmed that the law protects American national security.
“Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to the sensitive data of millions of Americans,” Garland added.
What will happen next?
The Biden administration has stressed that TikTok can continue to operate if it is freed from China's control. The White House said on Friday that Biden would not take any action to save TikTok.
Biden did not formally invoke the 90-day deadline delay as allowed by law.
“This decision will be made by the next president anyway,” Biden told reporters.
The law prohibits providing certain services to TikTok and other apps controlled by foreign adversaries, including by offering them 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 implementation of the law “should fall to the next administration,” while the Justice Department said that “enforcing the law and ensuring compliance with it after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays a role” as it passes. the time.”
TikTok said these statements “failed to provide necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to more than 170 million Americans.”
A viable buyer could still emerge, or Trump could invoke a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which states that keeping TikTok is good for national security.
Only one notable bidder has emerged so far, Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, who said he believes TikTok would be worth about $20 billion without its algorithm.
“Beijing needs TikTok more than Washington does,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow and expert on US-China relations at the Hudson Institute (NYSE:).
“With this leverage, Trump has a better chance of getting what he wants: TikTok continuing to operate in America without any national security threats,” he added.
