WASHINGTON: TikTok – the popular social media app used by over 170 million Americans – will no longer resist the threat of a ban in the United States.
People familiar with the matter said on Wednesday that TikTok plans to shut US operations of its social media app, when a federal ban is set to take effect, barring a last-minute reprieve.
The Chinese company has officially announced that if the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision goes against their expectations, the app will shut down on January 19, 2025. The app will be unavailable to its 170 million US users Sunday.
The Washington Post reported President-elect Donald Trump, whose term begins a day after a ban would start, is considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days. The newspaper, however did not specify how he could legally do so.
Reuters reported that the law signed in April mandates a ban on new TikTok downloads on Apple (AAPL.O) or )Googl.O app stores if Chinese parent ByteDance fails to divest the site.
Users who have downloaded TikTok would theoretically still be able to use the app, except that the law also bars US companies starting Sunday from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of it.
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The Trump transition team did not have an immediate comment.
Earlier in December, Trump had asked the US Supreme Court to delay an upcoming TikTok ban as he is working on a “political resolution”.
