TikTok prepares to withdraw from the United States

“TikTok will unfortunately be forced to close on January 19,” i.e. Sunday, the popular application announced Friday evening, unless “the government of Joe Biden guarantees the non-application of the law” which prohibits the platform in the United States unless its Chinese owner agrees to sell it.

TikTok has been fighting for months against this law adopted last March by Congress in the name of national security, but the US Supreme Court refused on Friday to suspend it, sealing the fate of the social network in the country, barring last minute intervention. .

There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers an important mode of expression, interaction and belonging to a communityestimated the nine senior magistrates, unanimously.

But Congress determined that its cessation was necessary to address its well-founded national security concernsthey observed.

The decision of 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 theAFPdid not respond.

The White House estimated that law enforcement [devait] return to the next government, which will take office on Mondayaccording to a statement from the spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre.

The American Department of Justice, for its part, announced on Friday that the application of the law would be spread over time, which raises the question of its very short-term effects.

A black screen

The statements released today by the White House and the Department of Justice failed to provide the clarity and assurance needed by service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to more than 170 million people. Americansindicated TikTok, before warning that TikTok would therefore certainly be forced to display a black screen on Sunday.

Donald Trump has, on several occasions, said he is in favor of the application being preserved in the United States, and even pleaded to this effect to the Supreme Court, in vain.

On Friday, he stressed that the Court’s decision must be respectedbut says he has need time to rule on the fate of the social network, promising a decision in the fairly near future.

The one who is due to take office Monday at noon discussed the fate of TikTok during a telephone conversation Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A sign of Donald Trump’s openness towards young people’s favorite social network, the boss of TikTok, Shou Chew, is one of the guests of honor for his inauguration ceremony.

I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that allows TikTok to remain available in the United Statessaid Shou Chew in a video posted on the platform on Friday.

We will put measures in place to prevent TikTok from turning off the lights in the United States, assured Thursday, on the Fox News channel, the Republican elected to the House of Representatives Mike Waltz, appointed National Security Advisor by Donald Trump.

Uncertainty

American elected officials adopted, in April 2024, this law intended to prevent Chinese authorities from accessing the data of users in the United States of the social network or from attempting to manipulate American opinion.

ByteDance has so far systematically refused to sell TikTok, even if several American investors have positioned themselves, first and foremost businessman Frank McCourt, ready to put $20 billion on the table.

Content creators on TikTok prepare for possible ban amid great uncertaintyexplains Courtney Spritzer, boss of the digital marketing agency Socialfly, specializing in social networks.

As for advertisers, some are betting on extinction [de la plateforme]while others are more optimistic and think it will continue after Sundayshe added.

The prospect of a possible disappearance of TikTok agitated the Internet, the three most downloaded applications on the Apple store being three video platforms, namely the Chinese Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, another subsidiary of ByteDance, and the American Clapper. TikTok itself was in the top 10.