- TikTok may go dark Sunday unless Biden ensures the ban won’t be enforced.
- The Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok’s US operations to be sold by Jan. 19 or face a ban.
- Biden’s administration doesn’t plan to enforce the ban before Trump takes office.
TikTok said Friday it would be forced to go dark on Sunday, the day the platform ban is set to take effect, unless the Biden administration takes further action to ensure it will not be enforced.
“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a statement posted on X.
“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” the statement continued.
The statement came after the Supreme Court earlier on Friday upheld the law banning TikTok.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The law, which was passed by Congress and signed by Biden last spring, required TikTok to be banned unless ByteDance, its China-based parent company, sells the app’s US operations by January 19.
The law specifically bans US app stores, like Apple’s and Google’s, from carrying or updating the app. Companies that violate the law could face fines of up to $5,000 per user who accesses TikTok.
The Biden administration said this week it does not plan to enforce the ban since it is set to take effect one day before President Joe Biden leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Justice Department issued a statement on Friday supporting the Supreme Court’s decision, adding: “The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time.”
Trump has said he does not support banning TikTok and will work on finding a solution. In a video on Friday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked Trump for his commitment to saving the app.
On Truth Social, Trump said he had spoken with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the phone and said the call was a “very good one” and that they discussed “balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects.”
It’s unclear what TikTok will look like on users’ phones come Sunday if the app goes “dark” and whether the video platform’s fate in the US will be permanent.
Some workarounds could bring the app back to life, including brokering a deal to sell it to a US buyer.
Figures from Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank to YouTuber MrBeast have expressed interest in buying the app.
BI’s Peter Kafka reported that Bytedance hasn’t publicly shown interest in selling TikTok or indicated any progress in a deal with a non-Chinese buyer so far.
There’s also the possibility that the Trump administration could issue an executive order reversing the ban under the argument that the move is related to foreign affairs and national security interests.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
