In a letter to Apple and Google on December 13, House Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi emphasized: "Maintaining TikTok on the App Store and Play Store after the January 19, 2025 deadline would be illegal."
The US Congress has given ByteDance 233 days to find a buyer for TikTok, but if it fails to do so, related data storage companies such as Oracle and Amazon Web Services will also face large fines.
In this context, ByteDance filed an emergency petition with the US Court of Appeals on December 9, requesting an extension of time to respond to the Supreme Court's request. However, on December 14, this request was rejected. TikTok currently has 170 million users in the US and warned that the ban would severely disrupt the platform's operations.
The US Justice Department said on December 11 that the ban would not directly prevent users of Apple or Google devices from continuing to use TikTok that they have downloaded. However, over time, the government will take measures to make the app inoperable.
Senator Josh Hawley asserted that "the law is the law," emphasizing that TikTok is under Chinese supervision, which makes the app a national security issue. Meanwhile, CNBC assessed that ByteDance and TikTok are trying to wait until the end of President Joe Biden's term on January 19, 2025.
Donald Trump, who once supported banning TikTok but later changed his mind, may try to block the ban if he takes office, according to the Washington Post. However, according to ABC News, launching a "lifeline" for TikTok will not be easy due to political and legal challenges from Congress, the Supreme Court and major technology corporations.
TikTok is at a critical crossroads, but finding a viable solution to avoid a ban remains a challenging task.
