TikTok Faces Potential US Shutdown Starting Sunday, Sources Indicate – One America News Network
By Reuters
January 15, 2025 – 7:49 AM PST
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(Reuters) – TikTok is set to suspend its app for U.S. users starting Sunday, coinciding with a potential federal ban, unless the Supreme Court intervenes, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The implications of this shutdown would differ from those outlined in the law, which would only prohibit new downloads of TikTok from Apple (AAPL.O) or Google (GOOGL.O) app stores, allowing existing users to maintain access for a period.
As part of its plan, TikTok will display a notification to users attempting to access the app, directing them to a website detailing information about the ban, per sources who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The company also intends to provide users with a way to download all their data, allowing them to retain a record of their personal information, according to the sources.
Implementing such service suspensions does not necessitate extensive preparation, one source indicated, noting that operations have been proceeding normally up until this week. If the ban is later overturned, TikTok could swiftly restore access to U.S. users, the source stated.
Requests for comment from TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, went unanswered by Reuters.
This story was first reported by U.S. tech outlet The Information.
ByteDance, a private entity, is approximately 60% owned by institutional investors including BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees possess the remaining 40%. The company employs over 7,000 people across the United States.
In April, President Joe Biden enacted a law mandating ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide prohibition.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined to support the law, despite appeals from President-elect Donald Trump and lawmakers for an extension of the deadline.
Trump, who is set to be inaugurated the day after the law’s implementation, has expressed that he deserves time post-inauguration to seek a “political resolution” regarding the matter.
TikTok and ByteDance have requested, at minimum, a postponement of the law’s enforcement, arguing that it infringes upon the First Amendment rights protecting free speech in the U.S. Constitution.
In a court filing last month, TikTok estimated that a third of the 170 million Americans currently using its app would cease to access the platform if the ban remained in effect for a month.
(This story has been modified to include the omitted word ‘the’ in paragraph 5)
Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York, Disha Mishra and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Arun Koyyur, Anil D’Silva and Tomasz Janowski
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