TikTok, the social media platform with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is planning to shut down on Sunday, when a federal ban on the app could come into effect, Reuters reported.
Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that the outcome of the shutdown would be different than that mandated by the law. The law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores. Reportedly, existing users could continue using the app for some time.
However, under TikTok’s plan, no U.S. users who have the app downloaded would be able to access it (via Reuters):
Under TikTok's plan, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, the people said, requesting anonymity as the matter is not public.
The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, they said.
Shutting down such services does not require longer planning, one of the sources said, noting that most operations have been continuing as usual as of this week. If the ban gets reversed later, TikTok would be able to restore service for U.S. users in a relatively short time, the source said.
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Reuters reached out to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, for comment. They did not respond.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets by Jan. 19 or face a ban.
The Supreme Court has been roped into the issue and has days to decide to step in and block the ban. An “emergency order” could be released at any time blocking the impending ban.
There are more than 170 million TikTok users in the United States.
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