TikTok plans to shut down its app for US users Sunday, when a federal ban on the social media platform could come into effect, inside sources have told Reuters.
That is, unless the Supreme Court moves to block the ban.
The outcome of the shutdown would be different from that mandated by the law. The law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores, while existing users could continue using it for some time, Reuters reported.
Under TikTok’s plan, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, sources said, requesting anonymity as the matter is not public.
The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, they said.
Shutting down such services does not require longer planning, one source said, noting that most operations have been continuing as usual as of this week.
If the ban gets reversed later, TikTok would be able to restore service for US users in a relatively short time, the source said.
Under the law banning the app, users would face different consequences.
Charli D’Amelio has the second largest following on the platform. The 20-year-old influencer from Norwalk, Connecticut, has more than 155million followers (at Swarovski in NYC on December 9)
TikTok plans to shut its app for US users Sunday, when a federal ban on the social media app could come into effect, inside sources have told Reuters
Anyone who does not already have the app downloaded when the ban goes into effect will not be able to install it going forward.
Existing users, however, will still be able to access and use the app.
But in addition to seeing a pop-up about the ban upon opening the app, they will not be able to install updates, which will likely cause it to degrade and stop working over time.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
Last April, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its US assets by January 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban.
This move arose out of Congress’s concerns over the threat TikTok poses to US national security.
US lawmakers have claimed that the Chinese government could use the app to spy on Americans or influence the American public by amplifying or suppressing certain types of content.
Last week, the US Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold the law, despite calls from President-elect Donald Trump some lawmakers to extend the deadline, Reuters reported.
Trump, who is set to be sworn into office one day after the law would go into effect, has said he should have time to pursue a ‘political resolution’ to the issue.
Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass, said Monday that he planned to introduce legislation to delay the ban by an additional 270 days.
‘TikTok creators and users across the nation are understandably alarmed. They are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts, and the vibrant online communities they have cultivated,’ Markey said in a statement.
‘These communities cannot be replicated on another app. A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process.’
Markey has also jointed Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky, and Representative Ro Ghanna, D-Calif. in submitting a bipartisan brief asking the US Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision to uphold a TikTok ban.
The lawmakers argue that ‘there are less drastic measures that could effectively address data security issues without infringing on constitutional rights,’ according to the brief.
‘A ban on TikTok not only violates the free speech of millions of Americans, but it also jeopardizes the livelihoods of creators and small business owners who use the app,’ Khanna said in a statement.
‘We need laws to protect Americans’ data, but banning TikTok is not the answer.’
TikTok and ByteDance have said the law violates the US constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
Both the app and its parent company have sought to delay the implementation of the law.
In a December court filing, TikTok said that an estimated one third of the 170 million Americans who use the app would stop accessing the social media platform if the ban lasted a month.
