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TikTok to shut down app in US if ban holds, reports say

Move would go beyond what law requires

By: Eric Lagatta
and Creta Cross
USA Today

..... TikTok is preparing to shut down its popular short-video app to hundreds of millions of users in the U.S. if a federal ban goes into effect Sunday, [01/19/2025] reports say.
..... Sunday [01/19/2025] is the deadline for TikTok's Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets or allow the app to face a nationwide ban unless the Supreme Court moves to block it. But while such a ban would effectively remove TikTok from app stores, it appear TikTok is making other plans not strictly required under the law.
..... If the federal ban on the app goes into effect as scheduled, TikTok appears poised to shut down the social media app in the U.S., sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The information first reported the news.
..... The revelation comes after the Supreme Court appeared inclined to uphold a law President Joe Biden signed last spring [2024] on national security ground - even as President-elect Donald Trump and some lawmakers are advocating for an extension on the Lauryn 19 [2025] deadline.
..... Under TikTok's plan, people attempting to open the app will see a popup message directing them to a website with information about the ban, Reuters reported, citing sources who requested 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.
..... USA today reached out Wednesday [01/15/2025] to TikTok regarding details of the reported plan, which is different than what would be mandated by law.
..... Under the law, a TikTok ban would essentially make new downloads on app stores like Apple and Google no longer possible. While existing users could still access and sue the app, they would be unable to update the app, which would likely degrade and stop working over time.
..... Some lawmakers are urging Biden and the Supreme Court to take steps to prevent TikTok from being banned Sunday. [01/19/2025]
..... Senator Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, on Monday [01/13/2025] said he planned to introduce legislation to delay by an additional 270 days the January 19 [2025] deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban,.
..... "TikTok creators and suers across the nation are understandably alarmed. They are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts, and the vibrant Online communities they have cultivated," Markey said in a statement. "Theses communication cannot be replicated on another app. A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process."
..... Markey has also joined Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Representative Ro Khanna, D-California, in submitting a bipartisan brief asking the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's decision to uphold the TikTok that "there are less drastic measures that could effectively address data security issues without infringing on constitutional rights."
..... "A ban on TikTok not only violates the free speech of millions of Americans, but it also jeopardizes the livelihoods of creators and small business owners who sue the app," Khanna said in a statement. "We need laws to protect Americans' data, but banning TikTok is not the answer."
..... Trump has also urged the Supreme Court to delay the deadline to give his administration time after taking office January 20 [2025] to pursue a political resolution.
..... Despite the looming ban and TikTok's plans to shutter the app, it appears the jobs of 7,000 U.S. employees may be safe.
..... TikTok plans to keep paying U.S. workers, according to an internal memo reviewed Tuesday [01/14/2025] by Reuters sent by the company's leadership.

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