TikTok is widely expected to experience a power outage on Sunday, leaving more than 170 million U.S. users, many of them children, without access to their favorite video-sharing app.
Here's what you need to know about the impending ban and what's next for TikTok.
When will TikTok be banned?
TikTok's clock is running out on Sunday, and company executives reportedly plan to shut down the app after midnight. Users will be redirected to a website with details about the parliamentary legislation and why the app was taken offline.
Why will TikTok be shut down?
The Supreme Court's intervention comes after TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance decided not to sell the app to U.S. buyers as required by the divestment law President Joe Biden signed in April. It was their last hope to maintain control. However, the High Court on Friday ruled against TikTok and ordered Google and the App Store to ban further downloads of the app by Sunday.
Can I use it even if I have already downloaded TikTok?
If TikTok doesn't fix the issue, current users will be able to use the app for a while, but they won't receive any software updates or support from the developer, and it will gradually become less functional until it becomes unusable. .
If TikTok chooses to go nuclear, as widely expected, the app will go offline for everyone on Sunday, even those who already have the app on their phones.
Will President-elect Trump “save” TikTok?
President Trump, who previously supported a ban, has vowed to find a political solution to keep the app alive in the United States. As he works to secure a deal, he is reportedly considering an executive order that would extend the sale period by 60 to 90 days.
Will TikTok sell?
That remains to be seen. Both TikTok and ByteDance say their apps are not for sale, and Chinese government officials have vowed to oppose any forced sales.
However, several U.S. investors have expressed interest in buying TikTok and rebuilding the recommendation algorithm from scratch on U.S. soil to ensure safety. The list includes billionaire Frank McCourt and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O'Leary, who are partnering to acquire the app.
Others who have reportedly expressed interest at various points in the past few months include former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. .
What do Congressional laws actually do?
The law passed by Congress last April requires TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell its stake in the company by January 19 or face an outright ban by the United States. The law also allowed President Biden to extend the grace period by 90 days if there were signs of progress towards a deal, but that did not happen.
What does “protect” mean?
In this case, the Supreme Court rejected TikTok's argument that divestment laws violate the First Amendment, siding with the Justice Department, which had identified national security risks associated with the app's Chinese ownership. I stood up.
What security risks does TikTok pose?
U.S. lawmakers and the Justice Department have said TikTok effectively functions as an espionage and propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party. Critics claim that Chinese authorities have the ability to secretly manipulate content through TikTok's recommendation algorithms to influence public opinion and collect large amounts of data, including tracking the location of U.S. users.
Additional evidence included in the Justice Department's allegations against TikTok remains redacted. TikTok strongly denies any wrongdoing.
“It is a travesty to suggest that we could somehow detect that these 2 billion lines of code, which are 40 times larger than the entire Windows operating system and change 1,000 times every day, have been modified,” the judiciary said. Daniel, the Ministry's lawyer, said: Tenney said at a hearing in September.
