AUSTIN, Texas — TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain with a federal ban set to take effect on Sunday, barring any last-minute actions. But what will happen to TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users if the ban goes through?

What You Need To Know

  • If no action is taken by the federal government, TikTok executives have signaled that they will shut down all operations in the U.S.

  • A couple of different entities have signaled that they are interested in saving TikTok or at least postponing Sunday’s deadline

  • If none of the 11th-hour saves pan out, on Jan. 19, it would be illegal for TikTok to be distributed through any app stores in the U.S. That would mean that no one in the U.S. could download the app from app stores like Apple and Google

  • A person with knowledge about TikTok’s plans told Reuters that if the ban happens, the app will be inaccessible to U.S. users. When current users go to open the app, a pop-up message will direct them to a website with information about the ban

If no action is taken by the federal government, TikTok executives have signaled that they will shut down all operations in the U.S.

How did we get here?

Last year, Congress passed a foreign aid package, which included aid for Ukraine and Israel. The TikTok ban was included in that bill, which Congress argued was necessary due to national security concerns posed by the app.

It was signed into law by President Joe Biden on April 24, 2024, starting the ticking clock for TikTok.

The law requires ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company–which the federal government claims is controlled by China–to either sell the app to a U.S. buyer or be forced to shut down its operations by Jan. 19. Although, if there is “significant progress” toward a sale, then that deadline could be extended by 100 days. 

TikTok and some of its users filed a lawsuit on May 7, 2024, claiming that the law violated their First Amendment rights to free speech. 

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in the social media platform’s challenge to the statute. A majority of the justices during arguments seemed to signal their support for the law, but they had not issued an opinion as of Wednesday. 

Potential last-minute saves ahead of the deadline

A couple of different entities have signaled that they are interested in saving TikTok or at least postponing Sunday’s deadline.

In Congress, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, introduced legislation called the “Extend the TikTok Deadline Act” in Congress, with the hopes of delaying the looming deadline. 

Markey claimed that the “TikTok ban was rushed through without sufficient consideration of the profound consequences it would have on the 170 million Americans who use the platform.” He said that the proposal is a straightforward, one-sentence piece of legislation that will “give Congress the time needed to fully assess the implications of this ban.”

The Supreme Court could also issue an opinion as early as Thursday morning, and the justices have a couple of different options. The court could side with TikTok and rule that the law passed by Congress was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, although that seems unlikely. 

The more likely options would be either that the justices give a temporary pause on the ban or uphold the statute and allow the ban to proceed on Jan. 19.

President-elect Donald Trump asked the justices to put the law on hold so he can negotiate a “political resolution” to the issue after he takes office on Jan. 20. 

The Washington Post reported that Trump was considering an executive order to suspend the ban for 60 to 90 days, while his administration works with ByteDance to find an American buyer. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, told Fox News on Wednesday that Trump is looking at options to “preserve” TikTok.

The Biden administration has previously said it did not plan to intervene, but an NBC report on Wednesday said that the administration is “exploring options” for how to stop the ban from going into effect on Sunday, punting the issue to the incoming Trump administration. 

“Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday,” an administration official told NBC. 

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ByteDance could choose to sell TikTok, but it would take a while for the sale to go through. A few investors have floated wanting to buy TikTok, but nothing official has been negotiated.

What happens if the ban goes through?

If none of the 11th-hour saves pan out, on Jan. 19, it would be illegal for TikTok to be distributed through any app stores in the U.S. That would mean that no one in the U.S. could download the app from app stores like Apple and Google. 

The law also bars U.S. companies from providing services to the app, which includes the distribution, maintenance and updating of it. 

In theory, current users could still access TikTok on Sunday and beyond, but they would no longer be able to update the app, slowing degrading it until it becomes unusable. 

Meanwhile, TikTok’s lawyer told the Supreme Court last week that if they upheld the law, the app would “go dark” and shut down its operations. 

A person with knowledge about TikTok’s plans told Reuters that if the ban happens, the app will be inaccessible to U.S. users. When current users go to open the app, a pop-up message will direct them to a website with information about the ban. The Reuters report also said that the social media company plans to allow users to download all of their data.

Users in other countries could also be impacted by the U.S. ban. In a court filing, TikTok argued the ban could make the app unavailable for millions of users in other countries due to U.S. service providers no longer helping with the platform.