Report from Reuters
In Brief – TikTok is reported to be planning to shutdown their US app on Sunday, January 19th if the US Supreme Court or Biden Administration does not issue an order delaying the effective date of the federal law requiring the company’s US operations be sold to an owner not based in an “adversarial country”. The law does not require that TikTok cease operations on the 19th. It prohibits US service providers such as app store operators from supporting the application, so that new downloads and updates would be blocked. But TikTok could argue that cutting off various support services means the app must be stopped. Anonymous sources said that TikTok would show users opening the app a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, as well as give users the option to download data related to their use of the service.
Context – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 10 in the First Amendment-based legal challenges filed by TikTok and a group of creators. A US Court of Appeals panel had ruled that the law met the “strict scrutiny” legal test based on national security justifications. The expedited consideration given by the Supreme Court reflects the unprecedented US move to force a foreign-based company to sell a massive online communications service. The justices quizzed both sides and most media reports have speculated that TikTok would come out on the losing end. One question was whether the app would shut down as of the 19th, with the government saying not necessarily but TikTok’s lawyer saying it likely would. Leaking shutdown plans sends a message to the court on that one! In addition, news of potential user “grassroots” will remind DC people of the company’s grassroots lobbying of Congress last spring. It generated a lot of user anger but also seemed to energize opposition on Capitol Hill. TikTok faces very hard tactical choices weighing how their actions, possibly seen as pressure tactics by the High Court or the incoming Trump Administration, will play. And are reports of “senior Chinese officials” considering Elon Musk as an acceptable buyer just China trolling the US and EU governments?