Will go dark this weekend unless Biden intervenes ‘immediately’, says TikTok

TikTok said it will have to “go dark” this weekend unless the outgoing Biden administration assures the company it won't enforce a shutdown of the popular app after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law banning the app unless it's sold by its China-based parent company

Washington: TikTok said it will have to “go dark” this weekend unless the outgoing Biden administration assures the company it won’t enforce a shutdown of the popular app after the Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning the app unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company.

The Supreme Court in its ruling held that the risk to national security posed by TikTok‘s ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.

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The decision came against the backdrop of unusual political agitation by President-elect Donald Trump, who vowed that he could negotiate a solution, and the administration of President Joe Biden, which has signalled it won’t enforce the law — which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support — beginning Sunday, his final full day in office.

“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,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, noting that actions to implement the law will fall to the new administration.

TikTok released a statement late Friday saying “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.” “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 statement said.

A sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones once the law takes effect, new users won’t be able to download it and updates won’t be available. That will eventually render the app unworkable, the Justice Department has said in court filings.