TikTok Says It Will Go Dark on Sunday Unless Biden Gives Definite Assurances 👉 Updatem News

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier on Friday to uphold a ban on the social media platform from app stores effective Jan. 19.

TikTok said it would be “forced to go dark” on Sunday if the Biden administration does not issue a ”definitive” assurance to its service providers that the U.S. government will not enforce a law requiring the company to divest or stop operation in the United States.

“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,” the company said in a statement on Jan. 18.

The move came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier on Friday to uphold a ban on the social media platform from app stores unless TikTok’s owner ByteDance divests the social media app’s U.S. assets by Sunday.

President Joe Biden, who leaves office days from now, signed the law, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, on April 24, 2024, after it was passed by bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate.

TikTok is operated in the United States by TikTok Inc., a U.S. company that Cayman Islands-based ByteDance Ltd. owns indirectly.

TikTok acknowledges that ByteDance owns subsidiaries in China and other nations but denies claims of Chinese influence in its operations.

Supporters of the law in Congress say the Chinese regime has too much sway over TikTok. The law expresses concerns that the Chinese regime may access and abuse the personal data of American TikTok users, using it to seek strategic advantage over the United States and disseminate propaganda.

The White House on Friday said that the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a ban on TikTok will ultimately fall under Trump’s administration.

“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 on Friday in response to the order. “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.”

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and is himself a social media entrepreneur, had previously filed a brief asking the justices to stay the law to give him an opportunity to develop a political solution when he returns to the White House.

Responding to the high court’s decision, Trump told CNN on Friday that the decision on whether to keep or ban TikTok is up to him. He did not go into details on his plan for the social media app.

“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” he said.

Jack Phillips and Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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