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TikTok informed its 170 million American users on Saturday that it would be “temporarily” unavailable after the expiration of a deadline that requires Chinese parent company Bytedance to either sell its stake in the app or face a ban.
In a pop-up window that appeared when users opened the short video app, the company wrote: “We regret that the US law banning TikTok will go into effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.”
She added: “We are working to restore our service in the United States as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please continue.” Otherwise, the app still works for users.
The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law passed by Congress last year requiring ByteDance to sell the platform or face a nationwide ban on Sunday, driven by concerns that Beijing might use the platform to spy or spread propaganda.
President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he “most likely” will issue a 90-day extension of the deadline when he arrives at the White House on Monday.
However, as of midnight the law will prevent companies like Apple, Google and Oracle from providing services for video app distribution or hosting, or face fines of $5,000 per user.
Late Friday, TikTok said that statements from the White House as well as from the Department of Justice “failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that are integral to maintaining the availability of TikTok” in the United States, without a “definitive statement to satisfy providers.” Most Important Services To ensure that TikTok is not implemented, it will be forced to stop working on January 19.
This is a developing story.
