TikTok says it plans to go offline on Sunday, January 19 if the Biden administration does not intervene.
The company confirms previous reports that it will be “forced to go dark” on the 19th, unless the outgoing administration provides a “definitive statement” assuring its “most critical service providers” that they will not be held responsible for violating the law. Those providers include Apple and Google, which together distribute TikTok through their app stores, and its hosting partners, which include Amazon and Oracle.
TikTok’s statement follows Friday’s ruling by the Supreme Court that upheld the law banning the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests its ownership stake. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, TikTok CEO Shou Chew appealed to President-elect Donald Trump in a video, but gave no indication of what might happen when the law takes effect at midnight Saturday.
Unfortunately for TikTok, the White House has already made it clear that it intends to entrust the fate of the app to Donald Trump, who has promised to save it and will be sworn in as president on Monday, January 20. Triumph said on friday who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about “balancing trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other issues.”
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, even since Congress overwhelmingly and bipartisanly sent a bill to the president’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under U.S. or other ownership.” that addresses identified national security concerns. by Congress in developing this law,” the White House said in a statement on Friday. “Given the mere fact of the moment, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law must simply fall to the next Administration, which will take office on Monday.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department, which is tasked with enforcing the TikTok ban by fining its US service providers $5,000 per user with access to the app, has signaled that it is still behind the ban.
“Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ sensitive data,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on friday. “The Court’s decision affirms that this Act protects the national security of the United States in a manner consistent with the Constitution.”
As the deadline for the ban approaches, politicians who voted in favor have begun to change their minds, arguing that ByteDance should be given more time to divest. According The New York TimesSen. Chuck Schumer told President Biden that allowing a ban to happen would “damage his legacy.”
You can read TikTok’s full statement on the closure below:
Statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers who are critical to keeping TikTok available to more than 170 million Americans.
Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers and ensure non-compliance, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to close its doors on January 19.