TikTok says it will “go dark” unless the US government intervenes

TikTok said it would be forced to “shut down” in the US on Sunday unless the government intervenes before the federal ban takes effect.

The statement said that “both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurances to service providers that are integral to maintaining the availability of TikTok.”

It added that if the US government does not issue an immediate declaration of non-implementation of the measures, “TikTok will unfortunately be forced to shut down on January 19”.

TikTok’s statement follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier on Friday that upheld a law banning the video app from the US unless its Chinese parent ByteDance sells the platform by Sunday.

TikTok challenged the law, arguing that it would violate free speech protections for millions of users in the country.

The Supreme Court ruling means the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web hosting services if a buyer is not found for the company by Sunday.

It was believed that the ban would not affect TikTok users who had already downloaded the app on their phones.

But a new statement from TikTok on Friday indicated that it could be immediately unavailable to all 170 million US users, as well as those who want to download it on Sunday.

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