TikTok loses in court: final US exit on Sunday?
By Andrei Sokolov
Washington - The video app TikTok has lost its battle against the law on change of ownership in the US before the Supreme Court.
The law does not violate freedom of speech, the judges ruled on Friday.
With the decision, Tiktok would theoretically have to be removed from the American Apple and Google app stores and lose access to the infrastructure when the sales deadline expires on Sunday.
However, the current government and President-elect Donald Trump (78) have already signaled that Tiktok should be given a reprieve instead of having to close down immediately in the US.
The app claims to have more than 170 million users in the USA.
"Americans should not expect Tiktok to suddenly be banned on Sunday," an anonymous government representative told the TV station NBC. Options for the corresponding implementation of the law are being examined.
The White House was even clearer on ABC: the deadline expires on the weekend before the inauguration of the new president - "and it will be up to the next administration to enforce it".
TikTok could remain in place beyond Sunday
Biden (82) can extend the deadline for Tiktok by three months by law. However, the prerequisite for this is that there are promising sales negotiations - and Tiktok and Bytedance have so far refused to talk about a separation at all.
But the White House is signaling that Tiktok headlines should not overshadow Biden's last days in office.
Trump's camp is also already exploring its legal options. "We're going to take steps to make sure that Tiktok doesn't go out," Trump's future National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News. This should give Trump more time to strike a deal.
Trump also raised the issue of Tiktok in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. Another sign of how highly the platform now ranks in Trump's favor: according to media reports, Tiktok CEO Shou Chew will be sitting in the gallery at Trump's inauguration on Monday, along with the heads of the major American tech companies.
Tiktok belongs to the Bytedance Group, which has its headquarters in China. There are warnings in the US that the Chinese government could gain access to US users' data and organize influence campaigns on the platform.