Apple & Google could be penalized for supporting TikTok after the January 19 deadline due to the U.S. Supreme Court Upholding the TikTok Ban
This morning the Supreme Court has upheld the law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok by Sunday or face an effective ban of the popular social video app in the U.S.
ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many U.S. users could lose access to the app on Sunday. The app may still work for those who already have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut the app down.
The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which President Joe Biden signed in April.
Under the terms of the law, third-party internet service providers like Apple and Google will be penalized for supporting a ByteDance-owned TikTok after the Jan. 19 deadline.
If internet service providers and app store owners comply, they will remove TikTok from their respective app stores, preventing users from downloading TikTok or installing the necessary updates that make the app functional.
Trump will be inaugurated on Monday, one day after the deadline for ByteDance to sell its TikTok U.S. operation. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of several tech leaders expected to be in attendance, seated on the dais.
If Trump chooses to not enforce the law, it’s unclear whether third-party internet service providers will trust that they won’t face any consequences for failing to comply with the rules.
In December, members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in which they urged the executives to begin preparing to comply with the law and reminded them of their duties as app store operators.
The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options intended to keep the app from its effective ban in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The plan was one of several that the Chinese government was considering as part of larger discussions involving working with the upcoming Trump White House, the report said. For more, read the full CNBC report.
In a second report, CNBC noted that "President-elect Donald Trump said he spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday about TikTok, fentanyl, trade and more. 'The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. 'We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!' Trump wrote."