TikTok to be banned in the US from Sunday, Supreme Court rules
Share:
TikTok is to be banned in the US from Sunday if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company, the Supreme Court has ruled. However, President Joe Biden has said he will not enforce the ban for the few remaining hours he is in office, leaving it up to Donald Trump to decide what to do when he enters the White House on Monday.
The US's top judges were deciding whether to overturn the ban after hearing appeals from TikTok creators and its lawyers. TikTok's owners Bytedance have repeatedly said they won't sell the app, which would stop the ban coming into force. President-elect Trump also tried to get the ban delayed, so he could make a decision on it once he was in office.
But, the Supreme Court has decided to stick with the original ban. Now, one day before Donald Trump returns to the White House, the social media app used by 170 million Americans will be banned. What happens on Sunday?. On Sunday, a few things could happen, especially now President Biden has said he will not enforce the ban.
There could be a quick beheading, with TikTok itself as the executioner. There are reports the company will pull the plug for US users. When they attempt to open the app, people will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, Reuters is reporting.
At a Supreme Court hearing last week, TikTok's lawyer said the app would "go dark" in the US if the ban came into force. Although there are a lot of American TikTok users, more than 1.5 billion people use TikTok worldwide, so the company could well decide it can manage without its US influencers.
