- Top House Select CCP Committee members have instructed the CEOs of Apple and Google to prepare for the potential removal of TikTok from their app stores ahead of a critical Jan. 19, 2025, deadline.
- TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has until Jan. 19, 2025 – or April 19, if the ban gets an extension – to divest from the app. Failure to meet the deadline could result in a sweeping ban on TikTok.
- TikTok's proposed ban comes amid growing tensions over national security linked to CCP control over Chinese social media platforms like TikTok.
- ByteDance has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and sought a temporary suspension from the D.C. Circuit Court, but legal experts see this as a long shot given the historical context of national security cases.
The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has instructed Apple and Google to prepare for the potential removal of the popular short-form video sharing and social media platform TikTok from their app stores. This comes as TikTok's Jan. 19, 2025 deadline to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, looms.
House Select CCP Committee Chair Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) have issued separate letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, respectively.
In these communications, the lawmakers emphasized the need for these tech giants to “take the necessary steps to ensure they can fully comply” with a recently passed law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app. (Related: TikTok ban bill could lead to broader surveillance and censorship by the U.S. government.)
This mandate, embedded in legislation signed by President Joe Biden in April, provides ByteDance a window of about nine months since the law’s passage to sell off its stake in TikTok, with the possibility of being given a one-time, 90-day extension if the White House determines that ByteDance is legitimately making progress toward selling its stake in TikTok. This could move the ban back to April 19, 2025.
However, should ByteDance fail to comply, TikTok would be subject to a sweeping ban across all U.S. networks and app stores.
The lawmakers' actions underscore the mounting pressure to address national security concerns linked to Chinese control over popular platforms in America. By targeting TikTok, the federal government aims to mitigate the risk of foreign surveillance and data manipulation.
In their letters, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi made it clear that Congress has provided ample time for ByteDance to divest its interests in TikTok.
"Congress has given TikTok more than 233 days to solve this issue," they wrote in a joint statement. "It's time for them to take decisive action to protect our national security."
ByteDance challenging the constitutionality of TikTok ban
ByteDance, in a last-ditch effort to avert the ban, has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The company has also asked the D.C. Circuit Court to temporarily suspend the law while it challenges its constitutionality.
"The Supreme Court has a well-established history of defending Americans' right to free speech," TikTok said in a statement. "We are confident that this landmark case will ultimately ensure that Americans' ability to freely express themselves online is protected."
However, this appeal to the First Amendment is seen by many as a long-shot maneuver. The Supreme Court has already ruled on a similar case, and the justices are unlikely to reverse course so easily, given the high stakes involved in national security.
Find more stories about TikTok at BigTech.news.
Watch this video from InfoWars regarding the real reason behind the TikTok ban.
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