TikTok faces U.S. ban deadline as users fail Reuters

(Reuters) – TikTok sparked panic across the United States on Saturday as a federal ban could cut off access to the Chinese-owned app that has captivated nearly half of all Americans, small businesses and shaped online culture.

The company said it would go dark in the United States late Friday unless President Joe Biden’s administration gives assurances to companies like Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google that they won’t face enforcement action when the ban goes into effect.

The ban comes under a law signed by President Joe Biden in April and marks the first major shutdown of the US social media app, TikTok, which has about 170 million domestic users and an estimated $20 billion in revenue by 2025.

The forum has until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent ByteDance or shut down U.S. activities to address national security concerns.

Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the ban on Friday, and a White House statement indicated that Biden would not take any action to save TikTok before the deadline.

Without Biden’s decision to officially call for a 90-day delay by the deadline, the companies that provide services to TikTok or the companies that host the app could face legal liability. It’s unclear whether TikTok’s business partners, including Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ: ) Google and Oracle (NYSE: ), will continue to work with Trump ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Uncertainty about the app’s future has sent users – mostly young people – looking for alternatives, including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta (NASDAQ: ) and Snap also saw their shares rise ahead of the ban this month, as investors bet on user traffic and ad dollars.

Marketing firms that depend on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans this week after months of conventional wisdom that an executive said was “hair on fire” for a solution to keep the app afloat.

With incoming US President Donald Trump seeking to pursue a “political solution” to the issue and last month’s Supreme Court order to temporarily halt enforcement of the ban, there have been signs that TikTok could make a comeback.

Trump said on Friday that the decision on the future of the TikTok app will be up to him, but did not give any details on what steps he would take. Media reports were considering an executive order that would block the sale or ban of Tik Tok for 60 to 90 days.

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

Analysts, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business, which they estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing is in talks to sell TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.

Privately held ByteDance is 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE: ) and General Atlantic, with its founders and employees owning 20% ​​each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US