TikTok stated that divestment “is simply not possible: not commercially, technologically, or legally”. The corporation kept that line till the very end.
It took five years for the app to disappear. Donald Trump proposed a TikTok ban via executive order in mid-2020, but it was not implemented. Several members of Congress offered similar legislation, but only one passed. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act become legislation, mandating that TikTok be sold or prohibited.
Washington — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Sunday to issue an executive order to restore TikTok after app owner ByteDance voluntarily shut down the service in the United States just hours before a Sunday deadline, cutting off access to tens of millions of users after the Supreme Court upheld a law that effectively banned it over concerns about its ties to China.
The measure established by Congress last year gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance until January 19 to divest from TikTok or be barred from using U.S. app stores and hosting services. TikTok claimed such a sale was not conceivable and challenged the law in court, but it was dismissed by a unanimous Supreme Court on Friday.
Trump announced on social media on Sunday that he will restore TikTok, first saying “SAVE TIKTOK” and then promising to sign an executive order on Monday to prolong the length of time before the law goes into force. He further stated that companies that assisted in keeping TikTok operational prior to the order’s implementation would not be held liable.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” said Obama. “I would prefer the United States to hold a 50% stake in a joint venture. By doing so, we save TikTok, maintain it in good hands, and allow it to grow. Tik Tok cannot exist without US consent. With our permission, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions.”
The court said that the divest-or-ban regulation does not infringe TikTok’s or its 170 million users’ free expression rights in the United States, agreeing with the government’s stance that the platform might be exploited by China to acquire a tremendous quantity of sensitive information on Americans.
While the Biden administration stated that enforcement of the law would be left to the incoming Trump administration, the corporation itself shut down shortly before Sunday’s midnight deadline.
Users in the United States who accessed the app late Saturday night were greeted with a notification reading, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States,” the notification states. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok right now. We are fortunate that President Trump has stated that he will collaborate with us on a way to reestablish TikTok once he takes office. “Please stay tuned!”
The software was also no longer available on the Apple and Google Play stores. CBS News has contacted TikTok for comment.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that the president-elect had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and “they agreed to work together on this.”
“We can have an app that protects Americans,” Waltz remarked. “And I could tell you that I would not want the FBI or the US government to monitor every keystroke or see every password, nor would we want the Chinese Communist Party.” But we also want an app that 170 million Americans plainly appreciate, and with which we were able to effectively communicate during the Trump campaign.”
TikTok announced Friday that it would “be forced to go dark” on Sunday unless the Biden administration promised service providers that the law would not be enforced. The White House dismissed the appeal as “a stunt” and advised the corporation to raise its issues with the Trump administration.
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the coming days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated.
On Sunday, the TikTok app remained accessible internationally, with no evidence that it had gone down in the United States. It was still possible to read and communicate with American accounts, and there was no clear official indication that US users’ access had been blocked. Even if President-elect Trump does not enforce the ban, the law will remain in effect, and firms such as Apple and Google may face penalties for future violations. Trump earlier promised to “save” TikTok and indicated on Saturday that he was considering extending the deadline for the law to take effect.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it’s appropriate,” he said in the phone conversation, adding, “if I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it Monday.”
The statute contains a clause that allows for a short-term extension if a sale is in progress.
During Supreme Court arguments on Jan. 10, Noel Francisco, a TikTok lawyer, warned that the platform would shut down when the law went into effect, explaining that a divestiture would be “extraordinarily difficult” under any timeline because the Chinese government opposes selling the algorithm that powers the platform by tailoring video recommendations to each user.
“As I understand it, we go dark,” Francisco explained.
According to Francisco, it would take “many years” for a new team of engineers to rebuild TikTok’s algorithm, and it would be a “fundamentally different platform” if there is an eventual sale that does not include TikTok’s algorithm. The company’s inability to share any user data with ByteDance under the law would prevent American users from viewing content from other parts of the world and vice versa.
The bipartisan legislation was inserted inside a foreign aid package that quickly passed Congress and was signed by President Biden in April. TikTok and ByteDance challenged the bill the following month, calling it “an extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power” based on “speculative and analytically flawed concerns about data security and content manipulation” that would limit millions of Americans’ freedom of expression.
In a December decision, a federal appeals court upheld the Act, stating that the US government “acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” The appeals court eventually refused TikTok’s request to defer the law’s implementation awaiting a Supreme Court review.
The Supreme Court moved quickly to hear the matter after TikTok requested a temporary pause. The court released its opinion a week after hearing arguments and two days before the bill went into force.
“There is no doubt that TikTok provides a unique and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and a sense of community to over 170 million Americans.” However, Congress has determined that divestment is required to resolve its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data gathering tactics and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court’s judgment stated.
The justices highlighted Congress’s decision that firms can be forced to provide over data to the Chinese government under Chinese law.
“The government had a good reason to single out TikTok,” the court concluded.
During the arguments, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stated that “nothing permanent or irrevocable happens” on Sunday. The law allows TikTok limitations to be waived if a transaction occurs after the deadline.
“Congress anticipated to see a game of chicken. ByteDance says, “We can’t do it; China will never let us.” But when it comes down to it, I believe that these constraints will profoundly alter the landscape in terms of what ByteDance is ready to explore,” Prelogar said.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew expressed confident that the app will have a future under Trump in a video statement released following the Supreme Court’s decision. He commended the new president for his pledge to find a solution that would allow TikTok to continue functioning in the United States “for years to come.”
Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok during his first term because to national security concerns, stated on Friday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the app. A Chinese description of the call made no mention of the matter under discussion.
Unless a sale occurs or Congress overturns the law, TikTok’s future in the United States is uncertain. If Trump or a future president fails to enforce the legislation, corporations like Apple and Google may face significant fines in the future.
“On the 19th, if it doesn’t shut down, there is a violation of law, correct?” Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned Prelogar, who responded, “Yes.”
“And whatever the new president does, it doesn’t change that reality for these companies,” Sotomayor said, alluding to the fines faced by app shops and web hosting companies.
“That’s right,” Prelogar responded, adding that there is a five-year statute of limitations.
Trump stated on Saturday that he will “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day respite from a potential ban once he takes office on Monday.
“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate,” he declared to NBC. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”
TikTok users in the United States have been switching to Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, a Chinese video-sharing app, rather than YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, both of which are expected to benefit from the ban.
One user put it: “I’d drop-ship my DNA to the front door of the Chinese Communist party before I watch an Instagram Reel.”
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