TikTok said late Friday that its service would “go dark” for its 170 million American users on Sunday in the face of a federal ban over fears that its Chinese ownership poses a threat to the United States’ national security.
The company said in a statement posted to its website and on X that “unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19” unless the Biden administration assures Apple, Google and other companies that they will not be punished for delivering TikTok’s services in the United States.
The statement was TikTok’s latest attempt to pressure the administration to grant it a reprieve from a law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, that would effectively ban its service starting Sunday.
The law says that app stores and major cloud computing providers cannot deliver TikTok to U.S. consumers unless the company is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to a non-Chinese owner.
TikTok did not detail what would happen on Sunday, including whether it would voluntarily shut itself down or simply cease to function because it would lose access to services it needs to stay online.
The statement came after the Biden administration signaled that federal officials would not immediately take action against Apple, Google and the other companies under the law.
Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement after the Supreme Court’s ruling that the process would play out “over time.” The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said that enforcing the law would fall to the incoming Trump administration, which takes office on Monday.
TikTok said that those comments were not enough to satisfy other companies that they would not run afoul of the law if they continued to distribute and maintain the app. Those companies could face penalties as high as $5,000 for each TikTok user who accesses the app inside the United States after the ban takes effect.
“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,” the company said.
