TikTok was awash with nervous anticipation across the United States on Saturday as a looming federal ban threatened to cut off access to the Chinese-owned app that has captivated nearly half of Americans, boosted small businesses and shaped online culture.
The company said late Friday that the app would become unavailable in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden's administration provides assurances to companies like Apple and Google that they will not face legal consequences when the ban takes effect, Reuters reports.
The ban would be implemented under a law signed by President Biden in April and would represent the first shutdown of a major social network in the US - given that TikTok has around 170 million domestic users and an estimated revenue of $20 billion in 2025.
The platform has until Sunday to sever ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or suspend its operations in the US to address concerns that it poses a threat to national security.
Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the ban on Friday, while a White House statement indicated that Biden would not take any steps to save TikTok before the deadline.
Without Biden's decision to formally implement the 90-day delay, companies that provide services to TikTok or host the app could face legal consequences. It is unclear whether TikTok's business partners, including Apple, Google and Oracle, will continue working with the app before Donald Trump takes office as president on Monday.
Uncertainty about the app's future has led users - mostly younger people - to turn to alternatives, including Chinese app RedNote. Competitors like Meta and Snap saw their shares rise this month ahead of the ban as investors anticipated an influx of users and advertising dollars.
Marketing firms that depend on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans this week, in what one executive described as a "moment of panic," after months of confidence that a solution would be found to keep the app running.
There are signs that TikTok could make a comeback under new President Donald Trump, who wants to resolve the issue politically and last month called on the Supreme Court to pause the implementation of the ban.
Trump said on Friday that the decision on the future of TikTok would be up to him, but did not provide details on what steps he would take. Media reports said he was considering an executive order that would delay the implementation of legislation to sell or ban TikTok for 60 to 90 days.
TikTok CEO Shaw Zi Chev plans to attend the US presidential inauguration on January 20 and is sitting among the high-profile guests invited by Trump, a source told Reuters.
Potential buyers, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also considered selling TikTok's US arm to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.
Privately held BiteDens is about 60 percent owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while founders and employees each own 20 percent. The company has more than 7.000 employees in the United States.
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