TikTok plans to shut down its app for US users this Sunday, January 19, ahead of the federal ban's entry into force, unless the Supreme Court intervenes and blocks the law, according to sources familiar with the company's plans, Reuters reports.
TikTok's decision to shut down completely would go beyond the requirements set forth in a law signed by President Joe Biden last year. The law bans new TikTok downloads from the Apple and Google app stores, but allows users to continue using the app for a certain period of time. However, TikTok is likely planning to shut down the service completely for users in the US as a precautionary measure.
After the shutdown, users who try to open the app will see a pop-up message that will redirect them to a website with information about the ban, the sources said. TikTok also plans to give users the opportunity to download their personal data before the app is shut down.
According to one of the sources, the company continued to operate as usual this week, and the service shutdown will not require long preparations. If the ban is lifted, TikTok will be able to restore the app to US users fairly quickly.
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have not yet commented on the situation. American technology publication The Information was the first to report that TikTok was preparing to close.
ByteDance, a privately held company, is approximately 60% owned by institutional investors, including BlackRock and General Atlantic, with founders and employees each holding 20% of the shares. The company has more than 7,000 employees in the United States.
The threat of a ban arose from a law signed by President Biden in April 2024 that requires ByteDance to sell its US assets by January 19, 2025. Failure to do so will result in a nationwide ban on TikTok. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that it was likely to uphold the law, despite efforts by TikTok and ByteDance to delay or appeal the decision.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, the day after the ban goes into effect, has called for a delay in the implementation of the law so that his administration has time to "politically resolve" the issue. Trump, who has previously stated his support for TikTok's operation in the United States under certain conditions, has not yet provided details of his plan of action.
TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech from government interference. In a recent court filing, TikTok estimated that about a third of its 170 million U.S. users would stop using the platform if the ban lasted a month.
The possible ban of TikTok is a significant escalation of tech tensions between the US and China and calls into question the future of one of the world's most popular social platforms. Meanwhile, American TikTok users are massively downloading the Chinese clone of Instagram, Xiaohongshu, which operates on the Chinese market and has not yet shown any intention of significantly expanding its presence in the United States.