US TikTok Users Face App Shutdown

Facing a federal ban, the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform TikTok is mandated to sever ties with its parent company, ByteDance.

Following a Supreme Court ruling that could result in a nationwide ban, approximately 170 million US TikTok users experienced a service interruption on Saturday.

The Supreme Court ordered TikTok to divest from ByteDance by Sunday, or face a ban.

Late Saturday, an update to the app in the US blocked access, citing the impending ban.

“Due to a US law prohibiting TikTok, effective January 19th, our services are temporarily unavailable,” the in-app message stated. “We are working to restore US service as soon as possible.”

TikTok previously warned of a potential service suspension in a Saturday newsroom statement.

“Without a definitive statement from the Biden Administration assuring non-enforcement to key service providers, TikTok will be forced offline on January 19th,” the statement read.

The Supreme Court’s decision is based on concerns that ByteDance’s ownership poses a national security risk, potentially enabling Chinese government access to US user data.

TikTok denies these claims, asserting it has “never shared” US user data with Beijing.

President-elect Donald Trump indicated a potential 90-day reprieve from the ban to allow for a sale to a non-Chinese entity. Trump stated he would “most likely” grant a “90-day extension,” during a Saturday interview with NBC News.