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TikTok told its 170 million U.S. users on Saturday that it would no longer be available “temporarily” after a deadline expired forcing its Chinese parent company Bytedance to either sell its stake in the app or face to a ban.
In a pop-up that appeared when users opened the short-form video app, the company wrote: “We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok takes effect on January 19 and requires us to make our services temporarily unavailable. »
He adds: “We are working to restore our service to the United States as soon as possible and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned. Besides, the application still works for users.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law passed by Congress last year that requires ByteDance to sell the platform or face a nationwide ban on Sunday, driven by concerns that the platform could be used by Beijing to for espionage or propaganda purposes.
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he would “most likely” grant a 90-day extension of the deadline when he arrives at the White House on Monday.
However, the law will ban companies such as Apple, Google and Oracle from midnight from providing services to distribute or host the video application, under penalty of fines of $5,000 per user.
On Friday evening, TikTok said statements from the White House as well as the Department of Justice had “failed to provide necessary clarity and assurance to service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability” to the states. -United, and this without “a definitive declaration to satisfy the most critical service providers guaranteeing non-application, TikTok would be forced to shut down on January 19.
This is a developing story.
