(Corrects the wording in the first paragraph to “they”)
Authors: Andrew Chung, John Kruzel and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok has warned that the United States will go murky overdue on Friday if President Joe Biden’s administration does not assure companies like Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google that they will not face enforcement action when the ban takes effect .
The announcement came hours after the Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells it, putting the popular short-video app out of business in just two days.
The court’s 9-0 majority decision leaves the social media platform – and its 170 million American users – in limbo and its fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who has vowed to save TikTok upon his return as president on Monday.
“Unless the Biden administration immediately provides a final statement that satisfies the most critical service providers and ensures non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to expire on January 19,” the company said.
The White House declined to comment.
Apple, Google, Alphabet Company (NASDAQ:), Oracle (NYSE:) and others could face huge fines if they continue to provide services to TikTok after the ban.
The bill passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities last year and was signed into law by Biden, though a growing chorus of lawmakers who voted for it are now trying to keep TikTok operating in the United States.
TikTok, ByteDance and some app users challenged the law, but the Supreme Court found it did not violate what they argued was the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government suppression of free speech.
ByteDance did little to divest itself of TikTok before Sunday’s legal deadline. But closing the app may be low. Trump, who tried to block TikTok in 2020, has said he plans to take action to save the app.
“My decision regarding TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I need time to assess the situation. Stay alert!” – Trump announced in a social media post.
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.
“NO OPPONENT’S CONTROL LOST”
For years, Chinese ownership of TikTok has raised concerns among U.S. leaders, and the fight against TikTok has unfolded at a time of growing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Lawmakers and the Biden administration have said China may be using TikTok to collect data on millions of Americans for harassment, recruitment and espionage.
“TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to control by a foreign adversary, combined with the vast amount of sensitive data collected by the platform, justify differential treatment to address the government’s national security concerns,” the Supreme Court said in an unsigned opinion.
TikTok has become one of the most well-known social media platforms in the U.S., especially among newborn people who operate it to post low videos, including many who operate it as a platform for tiny businesses.
Some users reacted with shock that a ban might actually happen.
“Oh my God, I’m speechless,” said Lourd Asprec, 21, of Houston, who has amassed 16.3 million followers on TikTok and earns an estimated $80,000 a year on the platform. “I don’t even care if China steals my data. They can take all my data. If anything happens, I will go to China myself and give them my details.”
The company’s powerful algorithm, its main asset, delivers low videos to individual users tailored to their preferences. The platform showcases an extensive collection of user-submitted videos that can be watched via a smartphone app or online.
As the January 19 deadline approached, millions of users switched to other Chinese apps like RedNote, finding that they had to decipher the Mandarin-only platform to launch their channels.
“China is adapting to the ruling in real time,” said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, who presented a position paper in the case against TikTok. “Beijing doesn’t just create apps; builds an ecosystem of discourse power to shape global narratives and influence societies.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the ruling confirmed that the law protects U.S. national security.
“Authoritarian regimes should not have unrestricted access to the sensitive data of millions of Americans,” Garland added.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The Biden administration has stressed that TikTok could continue to operate if it is freed from China’s control. The White House said Friday that Biden would take no action to save TikTok.
Biden did not formally invoke the law’s 90-day delay.
“That decision will be made by the next president anyway,” Biden told reporters.
The law prohibits TikTok and other apps controlled by foreign adversaries from providing certain services, including 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 that efforts to implement the law “must fall to the next administration,” while the Justice Department said that “implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 will be a process that will play a critical role.” a key role in time.”
TikTok said these statements “failed to provide service providers with the necessary clarity and certainty that 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, stating that maintaining TikTok is beneficial to national security.
So far, only one notable bidder has emerged – Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, who believes TikTok is worth about $20 billion without the algorithm.
“Beijing needs TikTok more than Washington does,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior research fellow and expert on U.S.-China relations at the Hudson (NYSE:) Institute.
“With this leverage, Trump has a better chance of getting what he wants: continuing TikTok’s operations in America without any national security threats.”
