TikTok tells US users it will be shutting down ‘temporarily’
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TikTok informed its 170 million U.S. users on Saturday that the app will no longer be available “temporarily” after a deadline requiring Chinese parent company Bytedance to sell its stake in the app expires. or face a ban.
In a pop-up that appears when users open the short-form video app, the company wrote: “We regret that the US ban on TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to temporarily temporarily stop providing its services.
It added: “We are working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.” On the other hand, the app still works for the user.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld a law passed by Congress last year requiring ByteDance to sell the platform or face a nationwide ban on Sunday, due to concerns This platform could be used by Beijing for espionage or propaganda.
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he would “most likely” extend the deadline by 90 days when he arrives at the White House on Monday.
However, from midnight the law will prohibit companies such as Apple, Google and Oracle from providing video application distribution or hosting services, or face a fine of $5,000 per user.
Late Friday, TikTok said that statements from the White House as well as from the Department of Justice “failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that are indispensable to maintaining maintain the availability of TikTok” in the United States and that without “ a definitive statement to satisfy the most important service providers ensuring non-enforcement, TikTok will be forced to shut down on the 19th January.
This is a developing story.
