The super-popular video app with 170 million American users and a China-based owner has less than 4 days left before it is banned in the United States if it doesn’t sell itself to an American buyer. The ban would go into effect Sunday, pending a Supreme Court decision that is expected to come soon (but it sure looks like America’s highest court will keep the law that bans TikTok in place).
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has a choice to make by Sunday, and its options are limited: Sell TikTok, shut it down, or try to keep the lights on long enough for President-elect Donald Trump to potentially come to the rescue. And, complicating matters further, those options aren’t mutually exclusive.
ByteDance has long been adamant: It says it has no intention of selling itself. TikTok’s magical algorithm that keeps you hooked on the app is its secret power, and putting a price tag on such a valuable commodity that every other social media app envies is difficult. Spinning off an American-only version of TikTok could also mean the rest of the world has to download a new app to access US users’ content. Yet Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that China is weighing a sale — to Elon Musk.
TikTok has fought the ban for years. But now, The Information says the app is preparing to shut itself down entirely Sunday, giving its users the option to collect their data — but TikTok will effectively go dark Sunday. ByteDance did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the report from The Information.
Even if TikTok shuts itself down on Sunday, that doesn’t mean it will go dark forever. It could ultimately sell itself to an American buyer down the road, which would presumably turn TikTok back on for American users. According to The Information, the app plans to give creators a means of downloading their old content if a shutdown takes place.
Another option: TikTok could do nothing. The law that goes into effect Sunday, pending the Supreme Court’s decision, doesn’t force TikTok to do anything at all. It’s on the US-based companies that support TikTok to take action.
So, on Sunday, a very real possibility is that people don’t notice much of a change at all. Apple and Google probably will remove the app’s listing from their app stores, but people who already downloaded the app could continue to use it if TikTok did nothing.
That’s probably not a long-term viable option: No one would be able to access the app if they got a new phone or never downloaded the app in the first place, for example. And it would become illegal for companies like Oracle that host TikTok’s content in the United States to continue to serve it to the app’s users. That could force TikTok to serve content from outside the US, degrading customers’ service.
Many TikTok users are confused. Some posted videos this week were celebrating, incorrectly, claims that the ban had been extended another 270 days, an apparent reference to proposed legislation from a small group of senators to put off the deadline, which appears nowhere near to receiving a vote or being signed into law.
It’s all very murky and complicated — which is why a clean break could be TikTok’s best option on Sunday. Turning the lights off could rattle TikTok’s loyal fanbase, perhaps with the purposeful aim of gaining Trump’s attention.
Trump, who supported a TikTok ban as president, has recently done a 180 and said he no longer supports the ban. He even petitioned the Supreme Court to stay the law so his incoming administration could work out a deal to keep TikTok available to Americans.
The enforcement mechanism for the new law would be the US Justice Department, which is changing hands at noon the day after the ban and which would have wide discretion to enforce the law (or not). So if Trump says his administration won’t enforce the ban, TikTok may place a bet that all the companies that host and support TikTok’s content will be willing to break the letter of the law with the understanding that they won’t be punished for it.
That’s a big gamble.
That’s why Sunday could be a very painful day for thousands of creators who have built careers on TikTok. And that’s why, in the meantime, other video streaming apps are gaining steam, as creators are looking to maintain their online presence, business, and following. Competing apps including RedNote, ByteDance’s Lemon8, Flip, Clapper, and Fanbase are rising in popularity on the app store.
Still, the future of TikTok remains a giant question mark. TikTok may shut itself down only to later reappear — with or without a US buyer. Sunday could be tough for TikTok fans. But Monday is a new day, with a new administration that could breathe new life into TikTok.
– CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.
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