TikTok buzzed with nervous anticipation across the United States on Saturday as a looming federal ban threatened to sever access to the Chinese-owned app that has captivated nearly half of all Americans, powered small businesses and shaped online culture.
The company said late on Friday it will go dark in the US on Sunday unless president Joe Biden’s administration provides assurances to companies such as Apple and Google that they will not face enforcement actions when a ban takes effect.
The White House dismissed TikTok’s comment as a stunt, reiterating on Saturday that it was up to the incoming Trump administration to take action, increasing the likelihood of a shutdown on Sunday.
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, adding “actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration.”
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TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House statement. The ban would be enacted under a law signed by Biden in April and mark the first US shutdown of a major social media app.
TikTok has 170 million domestic users and an estimated $20 billion in 2025 revenue. The platform has until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent ByteDance or shut down its US operation to resolve concerns it poses a threat to US security.
Supreme court justices upheld the ban on Friday in a unanimous decision and a White House statement suggested Mr Biden would not take any action to save TikTok before the deadline.
Without a decision by Mr Biden to formally invoke a 90-day delay in the deadline, companies providing services to TikTok or hosting the app could face legal liability. It is not clear if TikTok’s business partners, including Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Oracle, will continue doing business with it before Donald Trump is inaugurated on Monday.
Uncertainty over the app’s future had sent users scrambling to alternatives including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta and Snap had also seen their shares rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and ad dollars.
Marketing firms reliant on TikTok have rushed to prepare contingency plans this week in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying that a solution would materialise to keep the app running.
There have been signs TikTok could make a comeback under the incoming US president who wants to pursue a “political resolution” of the issue and last month urged the US supreme court to pause implementation of the ban.
Mr Trump said on Friday the decision on the future of the TikTok app will be up to him, but he did not provide any detail about what steps he would take. Media reports have said he was considering an executive order that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 60-90 days.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration on Monday and sit among high-profile guests invited by Mr Trump, a source told Reuters.
Suitors including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion.
Media reports say Beijing has also held talks about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company has denied that.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60 per cent owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20 per cent each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US – Reuters
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