TikTok Mulls Absolute Shutdown in U.S. Should Ban Push Through

TikTok is bracing for significant changes as a potential U.S. ban looms, with discussions underway about the app’s future if it fails to comply with a law requiring divestment from its Chinese ownership.

This comes as President Joe Biden signed into law by President Joe Biden in April, the legislation mandating TikTok to be sold to a U.S. company or face shutdown.

The Supreme Court is currently deliberating on the law’s constitutionality, and a decision is expected before the ban goes into effect on Sunday. If the court rules in TikTok’s favor, the app will continue its operations unchanged.

However, uncertainty grows as the company weighs its options should the ruling go against them.

With uncertainty growing, TikTok may make the app unavailable to its 170 million U.S. users come Sunday.

Attorney Noel Francisco, representing TikTok, confirmed the company’s readiness to shut down the platform if the court upholds the law.

“Essentially, the platform shuts down,” Francisco told the Supreme Court last Friday.

Meanwhile, alternative platforms are seeing a surge in popularity. RedNote, a Chinese short-form video app, has climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store as U.S. users explore other options in anticipation of TikTok’s potential removal.

Other platforms also rode on the social media saga, as language-learning app Duolingo jokingly posted on X about the sudden increase in users wanting to learn Mandarin.

“Oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin,” the platform said in an X post Tuesday.

This comes as the app has seen a 216 percent growth in new Mandarin learners in the U.S. compared to the same time period last year, with a sudden spike in mid-January due to RedNote’s popularity. (GFB)