TikTok will be ‘forced to go dark’ on January 19 unless Biden’s admin intervenes

TikTok says it will be “forced to go dark” on January 19 unless the Biden administration issues a more formal guarantee that it won’t go after service providers that host the app.

“The statements issued today by the White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide needed clarity and certainty to service providers that are integral to maintaining the availability of TikTok to over 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a statement. “If the Biden administration does not immediately issue a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers by ensuring non-implementation, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19.”

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring US app stores and hosting providers to remove TikTok on January 19 unless the popular social platform owned by ByteDance sells itself to an American buyer. With President Biden set to hand over the reins to Donald Trump at noon ET on January 20, the current White House has left the matter to the incoming administration.

In a statement Friday, the White House reiterated that “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but only under American or other ownership that addresses national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.” But “given the stark reality of the timing, this administration recognizes that enforcement action should simply be left to the next administration, which takes office on Monday.”

The Justice Department, which will be asked to enforce the law, said it welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. “The Court’s decision also underscores that the bipartisan legislation supported today is focused on protecting Americans, not restricting free speech,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Rather, this legislation is about breaking the ties that bind TikTok to the government in Beijing, in a manner consistent with the Constitution.”

Those ties will not be broken by the Biden administration. “The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that develops over time,” Monaco said.

TikTok has denied that it will hand over the app’s data to the Chinese government. But the Supreme Court noted in its ruling that ByteDance is subject to Chinese laws that require it to cooperate with the Chinese government’s “intelligence work,” allowing China to “access and control” the data it holds on American citizens. social network.

Although Trump started this fight to ban TikTok with a 2020 executive order, he now says he doesn’t want it to go away—mainly because it’s popular on TikTok.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew starred in the story. “We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform,” he said Friday. “One who has used TikTok to express his thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process.

“I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” Chew added. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”

This tweet is currently unavailable. It may be loading or it has been removed.

Trump has only said that “his decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future [after I have] time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

In December, Trump’s legal team asked the US Supreme Court to halt the future ban to “give him the opportunity to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” Trump said he has “a bit of a warm spot.” [his] heart” for TikTok because young people like it so much — a demographic that helped him get elected. Reports also indicate that he met up with Chew in Florida in December.

Ahead of a ban, some Americans are already looking for TikTok alternatives. Another Chinese-made social app, RedNote — also known as Xiaohongshu in China — is currently the top free app in the US iOS App Store.

About Will McCurdy

contributor

I’m a reporter covering the weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I held the lines at BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to manually install games from multiple CD-ROMs. As a reporter, I am passionate about the intersection of technology and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics and Russia and foreign affairs.

Read Will’s full bio

Read the latest from Will McCurdy