Washington – TikTok voluntarily shut down service in the US hours before Sunday's deadline, cutting off access for millions of users following the Supreme Court ruling this week. upheld a law which effectively banned him due to concerns about his ties with China.
The law passed by Congress last year gave TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance until January 19 to separate from TikTok or be removed from US app stores and hosting services. TikTok said the sale was not possible and challenged the law in court, but the Supreme Court unanimously rejected it on Friday.
The court's decision said disinvestment-or-sanctions law does not violate the free speech rights of TikTok or its 170 million users in the US, agrees with the government's position that the platform could be used by China to collect large amounts of sensitive information on Americans.
While the Biden administration said enforcement of the law would be left to the incoming Trump administration, the company took itself offline shortly before the midnight deadline on Sunday.
Users in the US who opened the app late Saturday night were greeted with a message titled, “Sorry, TikTok is not available right now.”
“A law has been enacted banning TikTok in the United States,” the message reads. “Unfortunately, this means you can't use TikTok right now. We're fortunate that President Trump has indicated that He will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok after taking over. Please stay tuned!”
The app was no longer available on either the Apple or Google Play stores. CBS News has contacted TikTok for comment.
TikTok said on Friday that it would be “forced to go dark” starting Sunday unless the Biden administration assures service providers that the law will not be enforced. The White House called the appeal “a stunt” and said the company should raise its concerns with the Trump administration.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
Even if President-elect Trump refuses to enforce the ban, the law will still remain on the books, and companies like Apple and Google could be punished for violations. Trump previously vowed to “save” TikTok, and said Saturday he was considering the option of extending the deadline for the law to take effect.
“A 90-day extension is something that is most likely, because it makes sense,” he said in a phone interview, adding, “If I decide to do that, I will probably announce it on Monday.”
The law includes a provision that allows short-term extensions if a sale is in progress.
during the supreme court Debate on 10th JanuaryTikTok lawyer Noel Francisco warned that the platform would be shut down if the law came into effect, explaining that divestment would be “extraordinarily difficult” to happen under any deadline because the Chinese government opposes the sale of algorithms. Which powers the platform by customizing video recommendations for each user.
“As I understand it, we go into darkness,” Francisco said.
But if there is an eventual sale that does not involve TikTok's algorithm, it would take “several years” for a new team of engineers to rebuild it and it would be a “fundamentally different platform,” according to Francisco. He said the company's inability to share any user data with ByteDance under the law would prevent US users from viewing content from other parts of the world and vice versa.
The bipartisan legislation was included in a foreign aid package that swiftly passed Congress and was signed by President Biden last April. TikTok and ByteDance challenged the law The following month, it called it “an extraordinary and unconstitutional assertion of power” based on “speculative and analytically flawed concerns about data security and content manipulation” that would suppress the speech of millions of Americans.
In a December ruling, a federal appeals court upheld the statute and said the U.S. government had “only a duty to protect that freedom from a foreign enemy state and to limit that adversary's ability to collect data on people in the United States.” Worked to do.” appeal court later rejected TikTok's attempt to delay the law going into effect, pending a Supreme Court review.
The Supreme Court showed extraordinary speed in hearing the case after TikTok requested a temporary restraining order from the judges. court issued its opinion One week after hearing the arguments and two days before the law is implemented.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok provides a distinctive and wide-ranging outlet for expression, a means of engagement, and a source of community. But Congress has determined that its well-supported national “The divestiture is necessary to address security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign competitor,” the court opinion said.
The judges cited Congress's finding that companies could be required to hand over data to the Chinese government under Chinese law.
“The government had good reason to single out TikTok,” the court said.
Solicitor General Elisabeth Preloger said during the debate that “nothing permanent or irreversible happens” on Sunday. The law provides TikTok the right to lift the ban if the sale occurs after the date.
“Congress was hoping that we might see something like a game of chicken. ByteDance is saying, we can't do this, China will never let us do this. But when the pressure increases and these sanctions go into effect, I think “That this will fundamentally change the landscape in terms of what ByteDance is willing to consider,” Preloger said.
In a video statement after the Supreme Court issued its decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew seemed confident that the app will have a future under Trump. He thanked the incoming president for his commitment to finding a solution that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the US “for years to come.”
Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term over national security concerns, said on Friday that he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok. The Chinese summary of the call did not mention that this was a topic of discussion.
Barring a sale or Congress overturning the law, there is no long-term certainty about TikTok's future in the US if Trump or a future president. By refusing to enforce the law, companies like Apple and Google could still face hefty fines in the future.
“On the 19th, if it doesn't close, it's a violation of the law, right?” Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Preloger, who said, “Yes.”
“And nothing the new president does changes that reality for these companies,” Sotomayor continued, referring to penalties imposed on app stores and web hosting services.
“That's correct,” Preloger said, adding that the five-year statute of limitations exists.