TikTok says it will ‘go dark’ in US on Sunday without intervention

TikTok said it would be forced to “go dark” in the US on Sunday if the government doesn’t act before a federal ban comes into force.

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

It added that unless a statement is immediately made by the US government assuring non-enforcement, “TikTok will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19”.

TikTok’s statement comes after a Supreme Court ruling on Friday upheld a law that would ban the video app in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by Sunday .

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

The Supreme Court’s decision means the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web hosting services unless a buyer is found for the company by Sunday.

It was thought that the ban would have no impact on TikTok users who already have the app downloaded on their phones.

But TikTok’s latest statement on Friday suggests it may be immediately unavailable to all 170 million US users, as well as those who wanted to download it on Sunday.

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