TikTok to Cut Off Access to Over 170 Million Americans Ahead of Sunday Deadline

GOOBJOOG NEWS|WASHINGTON: The Chinese social media giant TikTok said Friday it will cut off access to over 170 million unless the Biden administration intervenes ahead of the Sunday deadline.

The threat follows the bipartisan law in April, which demanded that Tiktok sell to American buyers by Sunday or face a ban in the United States. The Supreme Court earlier in the day allowed the controversial ban to stand.

The Biden administration has made clear it would leave enforcement of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday, and a White House official reiterated Friday night that its position on the matter has been sufficiently clear.

While the official did not rule out further action before the Sunday deadline, they said the administration had clearly signaled that it would not penalize service providers like Google and Apple for hosting TikTok on Sunday.

Still, TikTok said that was not enough. “The 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,” the company said in a statement Friday evening. “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.”

Trump has suggested – but not outright stated – that he will not enforce the ban. He had asked the Supreme Court to stay the ban so his incoming administration could work out a deal to sell TikTok to American buyers. But the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the app’s owners that claimed the law violated the First Amendment, allowing the ban to take place.

So TikTok could turn itself off Sunday, only to turn itself back on at a later date if Trump gives it assurances it will go unpunished for violating the ban.

The company’s Friday night warning was driven by concerns from service providers that face steep fines for allowing access to the app in the event of a ban.