TikTok announces its closure on Sunday in the United States after the Supreme Court decision

Its American disappearance is almost certain, barring a last-minute intervention from the Joe Biden government. The American president has already announced that he will let his successor, Donald Trump, decide.

The American fate of Tiktok soon sealed. “TikTok will unfortunately be forced to close on January 19”i.e. Sunday, announced the platform, Friday January 17. An almost certain closure, unless “the Joe Biden government does not guarantee the non-application of the law” which bans the platform in the United States unless its owner agrees to sell it. The social network has been fighting for months against this law adopted last March by Congress in the name of national security, intended to prevent Chinese authorities from accessing the data of users of the social network in the United States or attempting to manipulate American opinion.

But the US Supreme Court refused on Friday to suspend it. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers an important mode of expression, interaction and belonging to a community,” said the nine senior magistrates, unanimously. “Congress determined that its cession was necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns,” they nevertheless observed. The decision by the highest American court came just over 36 hours before the limit imposed by Congress on TikTok's parent company, the Chinese group ByteDance, to sell its subsidiary.

The law theoretically requires internet service providers and application stores to block downloads and updates from midnight on the night of Saturday to Sunday. The main ones, contacted by AFP, did not respond. The White House estimated that “law enforcement (should) return to the next government, which takes office on Monday”, according to a statement from the spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre. It is therefore up to Donald Trump's administration that the decision rests with us. The American Department of Justice, for its part, indicated that the application of the law would be spread out over time.