- TikTok plans to shut down its U.S. operations on Sunday, January 19th, barring a last-minute reprieve from the Supreme Court.
- The shutdown is due to a federal ban that was signed into law in April 2024, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. assets by January 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban.
- If the ban goes into effect, TikTok users in the U.S. will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, and the platform will essentially shut down.
- TikTok plans to give users the option to download their data before the shutdown, so they can keep a record of their personal information.
- The shutdown could also affect TikTok users globally, as hundreds of U.S. service providers help make the platform available worldwide.
- The Trump administration is considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban for 60-90 days, but it's unclear if this would be legally possible.
- The Biden administration has been weighing options to keep TikTok available to users beyond Sunday, in an effort to defer the decision to the incoming Trump administration.
- The U.S. Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold the law and allow the TikTok ban to proceed, overturn the law, or pause the law to give the court more time to make a decision.
- TikTok and ByteDance have argued that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
- The shutdown aims to protect TikTok service providers from legal liability and make it easier to resume operations if the ban is later reversed.
TikTok prepares to shut down app in US on Sunday, sources say | Reuters
Source:
www.reuters.com