TikTok plans on shutting down its app for American users on Sunday, Jan. 19, the same day a law banning the app in the United States goes into effect, according to multiple reports.
The move would see the popular app — which says it has 170 million monthly American users — going one step further than the law, signed by President Biden last April, requires. The law bans new downloads from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play app store, and also makes it “unlawful” to update the app. In other words, existing users could keep the app on their phones, but it would never update.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, instead is planning on immediately shutting down in the States, The Information reported late on Tuesday night. Reuters confirmed the news on their end on Wednesday morning, saying TikTok plans on directing users on Sunday to a page about the ban and giving them an option to download their data.
The law banning TikTok requires ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations to remain operating in States. The chief concern U.S. lawmakers say they have with TikTok is that it could double as a spyware app for the Chinese communist government; TikTok, per Chinese law, is required to share user data if asked to do so.
In the days leading up to the ban, two Chinese social apps — Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, which is also run by ByteDance — have raced to the top of Apple’s App Store (You can read more about Lemon8 by clicking here).
A potential TikTok ban has been lingering for several years now. Donald Trump first proposed removing the app from the U.S. during his first term in office, before Congress ultimately passed the law banning the app last year.
Despite his initial support, President-elect Trump has since changed his tune on banning TikTok, saying last year that he would like to “save” the app. And in December, Trump reiterated he would like to keep TikTok in the U.S. He said he’d “take a look” at saving TikTok, noting he had a “warm spot” in his heart for it because it helped get young people to vote for him.
The Supreme Court is currently weighing TikTok’s plea to overturn the law banning the app, but it does not appear likely before Sunday, when the app’s ban date hits.
