ALBAWABA - The chair and top Democrat on a US House of Representatives committee on China informed Apple and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, to remove the TikTok application from their US application stores by January 19.
TikTok ban in the US
ByteDance, the Chinese technology company that developed novel video-sharing social networking applications, most notably TikTok, received a ruling from a US federal court last week. The court’s decision requires the company to withdraw all its investments from the US by early 2025 or risk a complete ban on TikTok in the country.
"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,” as stated by the lawmakers.
ByteDance and TikTok officials believe that President-elect Donald Trump voted to ban the application in the United States. (Shutterstock)
It is worth noting that TikTok is now considered a major digital force in the U.S. The application has over 170 million active users and has become a hub for high-end trends while also creating a new commerce platform called TikTok Shop. This feature has turned into a marketplace that offers opportunities for small businesses.
However, the US government warned previously that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on, collect data from, and influence American citizens.
ByteDance and TikTok officials believe that President-elect Donald Trump voted to ban the application in the United States. The company may still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court within the next few weeks.
