In a Friday night bulletin, TikTok issued a statement on what it calls a “possible shutdown” after tomorrow. In short, TikTok does not plan to remain operational in the United States through the weekend despite the Biden White House deferring ban enforcement to the Trump White House.
TikTok cites critical service provider uncertainty on what exactly non-enforcement means from the White House and DOJ:
The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans.
Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.
Another read is simply that TikTok wants to show its U.S. user base exactly what a ban would look like if the Trump White House were to enforce it. The law in question doesn’t specifically ban TikTok from service in the U.S., but rather it insists China must divest from TikTok in favor of U.S. private ownership. That’s the angle of the law that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld today in a rejection of TikTok’s free speech argument (which doesn’t apply to Chinese firms).
As of Monday afternoon, the White House will officially change hands as former President Trump replaces President Joe Biden. For his part, Trump has decided to play coy on exactly how his administration will handle enforcement of the TikTok divestment law.
What happens next? Perhaps the Biden White House will issue an even more convincing statement that TikTok is clear to operate in the United States. On the other hand, it does seem like TikTok could leverage its ability to selectively go dark on Sunday in order to show customers what divest-or-bust means for their addictive, brain cell-deteriorating smartphone app of choice.
Meanwhile, the head of TikTok in the States plans to attend President Trump’s inauguration affair on Monday alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook and other conveniently patriotic tech bros.
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