TikTok says it will 'go dark' Sunday without Biden support

Video-sharing app TikTok said it will “go dark” on Sunday, Jan. 19, following the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to uphold a federal ban unless President Biden steps in.

“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 wrote in a Friday statement on the social media platform X.

U.S.’s highest court issued a unanimous ruling on Friday, upholding the legislation that requires TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which is based in China, to divest from the popular app and set up for it to be banned nationwide starting on Sunday.

Following the announcement, the White House and Department of Justice applauded the court's decision. Biden's spokesperson reiterated calls for divestment, calling for the law to be implemented under President-elect Trump given his term begins Monday. Biden’s White House will not move to enforce the ban.

“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,” TikTok added.

Although users will be able to keep the app on their devices, the app likely will become unusable with the legislation, that was signed by Biden in April last year, preventing app stores such as App Store and Google Play Store from dishing out updates or distributing it.

The judges found that the law, which garnered bipartisan support in Congress, did not violate the First Amendment, one of the main arguments TikTok’s legal team hedged since the legislation was signed into law.

Trump has pushed for the deadline to be extended so that he could potentially broker a deal.

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