TikTok faces U.S. ban expiration as users brace for fall By Reuters

(Reuters) – TikTok buzzed with nervous anticipation across the United States on Saturday, as a looming federal ban threatened to cut off access to the Chinese-owned app that has captivated nearly half of all Americans, it fueled small businesses and shaped online culture.

The company said late Friday that it will go dark in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration provides assurances to companies such as Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google that they will not face enforcement actions when a ban goes into effect.

The ban would be enacted under a law signed by President Joe Biden in April and marks the first US shutdown of a major social media app — with TikTok boasting about 170 million domestic users and about 20 billion dollars in 2025 revenue.

The platform has until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent ByteDance or close its operation in the United States to resolve concerns that it posed a threat to national security.

Supreme Court justices upheld the ban on Friday in a unanimous decision and a statement from the White House suggested that Biden would not take action to save TikTok before the deadline.

Without a decision by Biden to formally invoke a 90-day delay in the deadline, companies that provide services to TikTok or host the app could face legal liability. It is unclear whether TikTok’s business partners, including Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s Google and Oracle (NYSE:), will continue to do business with it before Trump is inaugurated on Monday.

Uncertainty about the future of the app had sent users – mainly made up of young people – scrambling to alternatives such as China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta (NASDAQ: ) and Snap also saw their shares rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and ad dollars.

Marketing companies that depend on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans this week in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying a solution would materialize to keep the app running.

There have been signs that TikTok could make a comeback under incoming US President Donald Trump, who wants to pursue a “political solution” to the problem and last month ordered the Supreme Court to pause implementation. of the prohibition.

Trump said on Friday that the decision on the future of the TikTok app will be up to him, but did not provide any details about the steps to be taken. Media reports said he was considering an executive order that would suspend enforcement of the law to sell or ban TikTok for 60 to 90 days.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration on January 20 and sit among high-profile guests invited by Trump, a source told Reuters.

Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also had discussions about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.

Private ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE: ) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the United States