The background is the US decision to ban a popular Chinese video service. The ban is due to take effect on Sunday.
Tiktok plans to shut down its app completely on Sunday in the US, sources told The Information technology website. The company has also referred to the plan in an internal memo, reports The Verge magazine.
The background is the US decision to ban the Tiktok application. The ban is due to take effect on Sunday, unless the Supreme Court blocks it.
Tiktok’s decision to close the application would go further than what the legislator requires.
The US-imposed ban would only prevent Tiktok from being downloaded and updated in the Apple and Google app stores. However, the application itself could be used at least for a while until its updates became obsolete.
The Chinese video service Tiktok is one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. It has about 170 million users in the US.
The US justifies the ban with national security. According to it, the application’s user data could end up in China.
Tiktok could avoid the ban if its owner Bytedance sold the app to a US owner. According to media reports, the Chinese authorities have considered whether the application could be sold by a billionaire For Elon Musk.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have switched to using the Chinese platform Rednote under the ban, the news channel CNN says.
Tiktok’s owner Bytedance has so far not commented on media reports about the application’s closure.
Sources: Reuters, AFP