In a bulletin released on Friday evening, TikTok announced a potential “shutdown” starting tomorrow. Essentially, TikTok indicates it does not intend to operate in the United States over the weekend, following the Biden administration’s decision to defer enforcement of the ban to the previous Trump administration.
The platform cites uncertainty regarding critical service providers from the government as its reason for considering a shutdown this weekend:
The statements issued today by the Biden administration and the Department of Justice have not provided the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers vital for maintaining TikTok’s service for over 170 million American users.
Without an immediate and definitive statement from the Biden Administration to reassure these key service providers regarding non-enforcement, TikTok will regrettably have to cease operations on January 19.
Alternatively, one could interpret this as TikTok attempting to demonstrate to U.S. users the implications of a ban if it were enforced by the Trump administration. The law does not explicitly prohibit TikTok’s operations in the U.S.; rather, it mandates that China divest its interests in TikTok in favor of American ownership. This is the legal stance upheld by the Supreme Court today, rejecting TikTok’s free speech argument, which does not pertain to China.
On Monday afternoon, the White House will see a transfer of power as former President Trump takes over from President Joe Biden. Trump has been noncommittal about how his administration intends to approach the enforcement of the TikTok divestment law.
It remains possible that the Biden administration may issue a more persuasive statement confirming TikTok’s ability to operate in the United States. Nevertheless, from a liability viewpoint, it appears that neither administration can offer TikTok a risk-free legal framework for continuing its operations in America.
The likelihood now is that TikTok will utilize its capability to selectively go dark on Sunday to illustrate to users what the divest-or-die scenario entails for their favorite, albeit controversial, smartphone application. If so, there may be a slight improvement in attention spans by Wednesday.
In the meantime, TikTok’s head in the U.S. plans to participate in President Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday, joining Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech executives who have recently suffered a loss of $1 million each.
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