TikTok will stop working on Sunday unless Joe Biden acts quickly to halt the ban

TikTok announced on Friday its impending shutdown in the US by Sunday unless President Joe Biden provides reassurances to tech giants such as Apple and Google that they won’t face consequences when the ban comes into effect.

This announcement followed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the US on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it. The clock is ticking for the popular short-video app, with just two days left before facing a potential blackout.

In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the court’s decision has left the social media platform and its 170 million American users in uncertainty, with their future now resting in the hands of former President Donald Trump, who has pledged to intervene and save TikTok upon his return to power.

‘Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,’ the company said.

The White House declined to comment.

Apple, Alphabet’s Google, Oracle and others could face massive fines if they continue to provide services to TikTok after the ban takes effect.

The law was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Biden, though a growing chorus of lawmakers who voted for it are now seeking to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app’s users challenged the law, but the Supreme Court decided that it did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech as they had argued.

ByteDance has done little to divest of TikTok by the Sunday deadline set under the law. But the app’s shutdown might be brief. Trump, who in 2020 had tried to ban TikTok, has said he plans to take action to save the app.

‘My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!’ Trump said 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.

The court issued its decision on Friday after TikTok argued a law banning the popular video streaming app unless it is sold violated users’ First Amendment rights. 

‘We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,’ the country’s highest court wrote in its decision, which reaffirming an appeals court ruling.

Last year, TikTok, along with some users and creators, sued in an effort to block the ban. But their efforts were rejected by lower courts, leaving them with no choice but to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on January 10, where it signaled it would not interfere with the ban going into effect on Sunday.

In that decision on Friday, the country’s highest court noted that the provisions of the law in question were content neutral, targeting a foreign adversary’s control of a platform rather than targeting particular speech.

Some 170 million Americans use the video app, and some warned that banning the Chinese-owned app would disrupt the business and livelihoods of millions of Americans.

The path forward now depends on how the incoming Trump administration responds as the CEO of TikTok Shou Zi Chew will be seated in a place of honor with other tech leaders at President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Moments after the decision, Trump told CNN the fate of TikTok ‘ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do.’

‘Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision,’ Trump said but he did not provide details.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump later wrote the decision was respected, and ‘everyone must respect it.’ 

‘My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation,’ he posted.

TikTok’s CEO posted a video message on the social media app responding to the decision where he thanked Trump directly and argued they were fighting ‘to protect the constitutional right to free speech.’

‘On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I want to thanks President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,’ he said.

‘This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,’  Chew added. 

He said TikTok is ‘grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform.’

In response to the decision, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the court’s decision ‘enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.’

‘Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ sensitive data,’ he added.

But despite the ban set to go into effect on Sunday, President Biden signaled he would not enforce it, leaving it to Trump who takes office Monday.

‘President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,’ the White House said in a statement on Monday.

‘Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,’ outgoing press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added.

During his first term in office, Trump was among the first to raise concerns that TikTok was a national security threat. But he has since done a complete 180 and changed his tune. 

Last month after winning the election, Trump met with TikTok’s CEO at his Mar-a-Lago estate and signaled he wanted to stop the ban.

‘I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart I’ll be honest,’ Trump told reporters of the  video streaming app. 

He credits the app for helping him make gains with young people in the 2024 election.

Before their decision, Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay enforcing the ban and mulled an executive order to delay it.

It’s not exactly clear what the app will look like when users go to use it after it’s banned on Sunday. 

The app store and internet hosting services have strong incentives to comply with the ban and stop providing TikTok in the U.S. after January 19 as they could face hefty fines with the Justice Department.

While Trump could try to save TikTok from being banned, it would put him at odds with some of his Republican allies in Congress as lawmakers overwhelmingly supported passing the law.

GOP Senator Tom Cotton said that the Supreme Court correctly rejected ‘TikTok’s lies and propaganda masquerading as legal arguments.’

 ‘ByteDance and its Chinese Communist masters had nine months to sell TikTok before the Sunday deadline. The very fact that Communist China refuses to permit its sale reveals exactly what TikTok is: a communist spy app,’ Cotton posted on X.