epa08581701 A TikTok app is seen on the tablet in Shanghai, China, 03 August 2020. According to media reports, Microsoft is in talks to buy the US operations of Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok which belongs to Chinese company Bytedance. This development comes as US President Donald Trump announced he wanted to ban Tiktok, the app particularly popular with young people and is said to count around one billion users worldwide, including around 100 million in the US….US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that US President Donald Trump will crack down Chinese software apps such is Bytedance?s TikTok in upcoming days. EPA-EFE/ALEX PLAVEVSKI
Jan. 18 (UPI) — TikTok plans to cease operations in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden intervenes before he leaves office one day later.
The China-based social media platform made the announcement Friday night after the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously earlier in the day to leave in place a law that would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores unless the company divests from the platform and sells it to an American firm by Sunday.
This means 170 million U.S. users won’t be able to access the app because a federal law approved by wide margins in the House and Senate, and signed by Biden in April will take effect. The legislation gave TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 270 days to sell TikTok.
TikTok faces fines for continuing to host TikTok after the deadline.
“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” ByteDance said in a statement. “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 had argued that the app and those using the app in the United States are protected by the First Amendment. Lawmakers wafrned data could be collected and used by China.
Some justices wondered how effective a ban would be.
“A determined foreign adversary may just seek to replace one lost surveillance application with another,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his opinion. “As time passes and threats evolve, less dramatic and more effective solutions may emerge. Even what might happen next to TikTok remains unclear.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Lisa Monaco said in a release that the decision “enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.”
Trump’s nominee for attorney general Pam Bondi won’t commit to enforcing the TikTok law at her confirmation hearing this week. S
The White House doesn’t want to intervene.
“The Administration, like the rest of the country, has awaited the decision just made by the U.S. Supreme Court on the TikTok matter,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “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. 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.”
Trump originally opposed TikTok in the United States but he has softened his tone on TikTok after starting efforts to ban it during his first administration.
He had called for the court to delay its decision while another “political” decision could be reached.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, 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. Stay tuned!,” Trump posted Friday on Truth Social.
Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok and other issues.
“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Trump said. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”
Trump invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to his inauguration Monday, which he accepted. He met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago in December.
Chew thanked Trump on Friday for his efforts.
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a President who truly understands our platform – one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content,” Chew said in a video statement. “More to come.”
The law allows the president to extend implementation of the ban by 90 days, but triggering it requires evidence that parties working on a sale have made significant progress.
ByteDance has publicly said the app is not for sale, including its algorithm. And China is likely to block the sale of the algorithm.
TikTok’s U.S. assets, without the algorithm, are estimated at between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives to CNN.
The algorithm determines videos shown to each user on their “For You Page”, which is based on their personal interests and engagement with the service.
Billionaire Frank McCourt, the former Los Angles Dodgers owner, said he has offered to buy the app with other investors, including Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank.
“We are ready to work with the company and President Trump to complete a deal,” McCourt said in a statement to Politico. “Together, we can transition TikTok to a clean tech stack and turn this national security problem into a big win for Americans.”