TikTok faced an imminent shutdown in the United States after Congress passed a law last year forcing its Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell the platform or shut it down by Sunday.
The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on TikTok’s challenge to the law this week.
After the hearing last Friday, hopes are high that the law will stand.
Here’s a review of what may be next for TikTok in the United States.
App Store ban
Under the ban, the US government will first direct Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, preventing new downloads as early as Sunday, a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
However, the app will remain on the phones of the existing 170 million US users unless TikTok blocks their access outright.
Although TikTok lawyer Noel Francisco said on Sunday the site would “go dark” if a judge fails to block the ban, many observers are skeptical that ByteDance will unilaterally effect the off switch for US users.
TikTok indicated this in a memo to employees quoted in The Verge on Tuesday.
No matter what happens on January 19, “our offices will remain open” and employees will continue to do their jobs.
“The bill is not written in a way that would impact the entities through which you are employed, only the American user experience,” the memo said.
Solution
But even if TikTok keeps its app accessible, US users will stop receiving security and software updates, leading to a gradual decline in quality and an increase in vulnerabilities.
As a workaround, users can turn to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to hide their location through countries where TikTok is available.
Another possibility is that TikTok could update from non-US servers through partnerships with foreign, non-Chinese companies – although this would be a direct defiance of US authorities and could intensify scrutiny of ByteDance’s US operations.
Disobedience?
Once Trump takes office, responsibility for implementation of the law will fall to his Attorney General, who could choose not to enforce it or block it, disregarding Congress’s overwhelming support for the law.
The Trump administration could also approach the Republican majority in Congress to modify the law, potentially giving ByteDance more time to find a buyer or craft an alternative solution.
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Once banned, the assumption is that TikTok users will move to other apps like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, TikTok copycats will directly benefit from the demise of their competitor.
Elon Musk’s ex could also benefit and the tycoon has made it known that he wants his platform, formerly Twitter, to be similar to TikTok with video content and shopping features.
Trump has expressed concern that the ban would primarily benefit Meta-owned Instagram, which may explain Mark Zuckerberg’s recent public support for Trump.
Some US content creators have already moved to Xiaohongshu (Red Note), another Chinese social media app that recently topped Apple App Store downloads.
Investor protection?
Several potential buyers have emerged, including a group led by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, even though ByteDance has ruled out a sale for the time being.
His partner in the bid, Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, recently played golf with Trump and reported the president-elect’s desire to use the TikTok saga as leverage in US-China relations.
A report said Chinese officials would be willing to buy out Musk, a claim TikTok has denied.
According to the report, Activision Blizzard’s former CEO Bobby Kotick is also interested in purchasing TikTok.
For now, TikTok’s fate hinges on the Supreme Court, with lawyers for the company asking the nine justices to delay any ban to provide “breathing space” for a solution.
“Until we get a hearing from the Supreme Court, no one knows what they’re going to do or who’s going to do it,” Trump told Newsmax on Monday.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
