Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring that TikTok parent company ByteDance divest its US assets before a certain date or risk TikTok being banned in the United States. As that divestment has not happened, it now appears that TikTok is getting ready to shut its US servers down and end service to users in the States unless the Supreme Court steps in to block the ban.
Word of TikTok preparing for the ban came via The Information, which spoke with sources familiar on the matter. While the law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores, existing users would have been able to continue to use it for the time being. That said, it appears TikTok’s plan is to shut down in the US altogether without something drastic changing, according to several anonymous sources. Once the shutdown goes into effect, those that open the app will be sent to a screen that directs them to a webpage that explains the ban. Users affected will be able to download all their data so as to keep their personal data.
TikTok’s fate has been in limbo for months on end with continued debate. ByteDance has explored a number of opportunities to attempt to stave off the ban since Biden signed the law against it, including suing the US government for allegedly infringing on its First Amendment rights and attempting to file an emergency injunction to delay the ban. There were even rumors of ByteDance selling the US rights for TikTok to Elon Musk. However, none of these actions have seen any results in keeping the ban from happening, and so TikTok seems to have decided it will cut its losses and remove the service if sources are to be believed.
With January 19, 2025 coming fast, when the US TikTok ban would become final, it will likely take a major change to keep it from happening. Stay tuned as we watch for updates to this story.