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U.S. lawmakers are pressing Apple and Google to prepare for TikTok's removal from app stores by January 19. The demand follows a court ruling mandating ByteDance divest the app, citing national security concerns and its links to Chinese oversight.
Lawmakers Urge TikTok’s Removal Amid National Security Fears
Google parent Alphabet and Apple CEOs were advised by the chair and senior Democrat of a U.S. House committee on China that they need to be prepared to remove TikTok from their U.S. app stores on January 19th, Reuters reports.
A federal appeals court in the United States affirmed last week a statute that threatened to prohibit ByteDance, a Chinese company, unless it divested itself of TikTok in the US. Separately, Republican committee chair John Moolenaar and top Democrat on the panel, Raja Krishnamoorthi, asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to sell the app that 170 million Americans use to watch short videos.
"Congress has acted decisively to defend the national security of the United States and protect TikTok’s American users from the Chinese Communist Party. We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture," the lawmakers added.
There was an instant lack of comment from Apple, Alphabet, and TikTok. On Monday, ByteDance and TikTok hurriedly sought to halt the statute until the United States Supreme Court could examine it.
DOJ Clarifies TikTok Ban’s Impact on Current Users
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice asserted that, should the ban go into force on January 19, it will "not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok" for Apple or Google users who have previously installed the app. However, it did not deny that the limitations on offering assistance "will eventually be to render the application unworkable."
The video-sharing platform TikTok responded on Thursday by stating that, without a court ruling, the app will be removed from app stores on January 19 and will "be unavailable to the half of the country that does not already use the app." Apparently, cutting off support services will "cripple the platform in the United States and make it totally unusable."
Per Investing.com, the incoming president, Donald Trump, has promised not to prohibit TikTok, according to ByteDance and the video sharing platform.
ByteDance Faces Tight Deadline for TikTok Divestiture
The legislation does not provide for any wriggle space, according to Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who expressed his hope in an interview that ByteDance will sell TikTok. "The statute is what the statute is," Hawley stated. "The main issue is it's subject to Chinese oversight, Beijing oversight - that's the problem."
