TikTok prepares to shut down app in US on Sunday, sources say

 

The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, the sources said.

Users took to social media platform X to express their disappointment with a potential ban on the app, in the run up to Sunday when the ban takes effect. They also expressed their happiness at reports on Trump considering ways to avert the ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold the law and allow TikTok to be banned on Sunday, overturn the law, or pause the law to give the court more time to make a decision.

Shutting down TikTok in the U.S. could make it unavailable for users in many other countries, the company said in a court filing last month, because hundreds of service providers in the U.S. help make the platform available to TikTok users around the world - and could no longer do so starting Sunday.

TikTok said in the court filing an order was needed to "avoid interruption of services for tens of millions of TikTok users outside the United States."

TikTok had said that the prohibitions would eventually make the app unusable, noting in the filing that "data centers would almost certainly conclude that they can no longer store" TikTok code, content, or data.

The sources said the shutdown aims to protect TikTok service providers from legal liability and make it easier to resume operations if President-elect Donald Trump opted to roll back any ban.

Shutting down such services does not require longer planning, one of the sources said, noting that most operations have been continuing as usual as of this week. If the ban gets reversed later, TikTok would be able to restore service for U.S. users in a relatively short time, sources said.

TikTok and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

U.S. tech publication The Information first reported the news late on Tuesday.

Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the United States.

President Joe Biden last April signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets by Jan. 19, or face a nationwide ban. Last week, the Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold the law, despite calls from Trump and lawmakers to extend the deadline.

TikTok and ByteDance have sought, at the very least, a delay in the implementation of the law, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.

TikTok said in the court filing last month it estimated one-third of its 170 million American users would stop accessing the platform if the ban lasted a month.

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Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Krystal Hu in New York, Kanjyik Ghosh, Disha Mishra, Jaspreet Singh and Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry