TikTok, CapCut, and Lemon8, apps owned by China-based ByteDance, have officially suspended their services and have been pulled from app stores amid a U.S. ban.
RELATED: President Joe Biden Decides Not To Enforce Looming TikTok Ban, Instead Leaves Chinese App’s Fate To President-Elect Donald Trump
Following a looming ban in the U.S., Chinese-owned ByteDance apps TikTok, CapCut, and Lemon8 have gone dark, suspending their services, and having their icons pulled from app stores. The move arrives after Congress required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest its shares in the company by January 19.
The American government argues that the TikTok app is a national security threat as it is owned and operated under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party. The law, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, prohibits Apple and Google’s app stores, as well as web-hosting platforms, from distributing or hosting TikTok in the United States, unless ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, sells its ownership in the app to a third party located in a country that is not deemed a “foreign adversary” of the United States.
Since the ban was first introduced by President-elect Donald Trump in 2020, during his first presidency, ByteDance has been incessantly fighting against the TikTok ban and refusing to sell off its 40% stake in the app, likely relying on claims that President-elect Donald Trump will delay the ban and seek a better solution once he is inaugurated and takes office on January 20.
RELATED: TikTok CEO Posts Video Thanking Donald Trump After Supreme Court Upholds Ban
After filing an emergency appeal to request a block of the ban, the Supreme Court heard arguments on January 10. During the hearing, TikTok/ByteDance argued that the law created against them violates the United States First Amendment, affecting the nation’s 170 million users on their app. However, the Supreme Court Justices appear to be in favor of the U.S. government.
President Joe Biden‘s administration then announced on January 16 that it would not be enforcing the January 19 ban on TikTok and would instead leave the fate of the Chinese app to President-elect Donald Trump. A White House official told ABC News, “Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before the inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.”
The following day, January 17, the Supreme Court upheld the law banning TikTok, leaving TikTok to brace for a shutdown on Sunday, January 19. TikTok claimed it would “go dark” and oblige to the ban if the White House did not provide a “definitive” statement regarding its future.
RELATED: Donald Trump Says He Will Most Likely Give TikTok 90-Day Extension After He Takes Office
Reacting on Saturday (January 18), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement. According to the BBC, she said, “We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday. We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.”
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News‘ “Meet The Press” moderator Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day extension from a potential ban in the U.S. after he is sworn in. Trump said, “I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.” He also emphasized that while he hasn’t made a final decision, the extension is under consideration.
Hours after Trump’s ban extension comments and hours before the deadline, TikTok went dark, along with China-owned ByteDance’s other apps, CapCut, Lemon8, and more. Upon opening the TikTok app, users are met with the message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” A similar message reads on CapCut and Lemon8.
RELATED: White House Says TikTok’s Threat To ‘Go Dark’ On January 19, Without Joe Biden’s Support, Is A ‘Stunt’
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