What else is out there other than TikTok?
LiveNOW’s Josh Breslow discusses the future of TikTok and other apps people can use with tech expert Stephanie Humphrey.
TikTok stopped operating in the U.S. ahead of a January 19 deadline after the Supreme Court upheld a ban.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the social media app posted on its various platforms Saturday night. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
What’s next:
It’s unclear what the future is of the social media app.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” TikTok’s statement continued.
“In the meantime, you can still log in to download your data.”
President-elect Donald Trump said he “most likely” will give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow the wildly popular app to avoid a ban in the U.S.
In an interview with NBC News Saturday, Trump said he had not decided what to do but was considering helping TikTok get a reprieve after he is sworn into office on Monday.
Trump’s TikTok comments
FILE – The TikTok logo is displayed in view of a video feed of U.S. President Donald Trump in London, U.K., on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. (Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What they’re saying:
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at,” Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in a phone interview. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate … We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.”
White House said it wouldn’t have enforced ban
The other side:
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previously called TikTok’s demands “a stunt.”
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office,” Jean-Pierre said Saturday.
President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t enforce a ban on TikTok before he leaves the White House on Monday, a source told The Associated Press on Thursday.
RELATED: Here’s how to download your TikTok videos and data ahead of the ban
Why you should care:
On Friday evening, TikTok announced it will be “forced to go dark” on Sunday, Jan. 19, unless the Biden administration provides a definitive statement assuring that the app’s tech partners won’t face penalties under a law requiring its China-based parent, ByteDance, to divest its stake.
RELATED: Duolingo reportedly sees spike in Americans learning Chinese as TikTok users move to RedNote
Supreme Court upholds federal law, allowing TikTok ban
The backstory:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law that banned TikTok unless ByteDance divested itself of its U.S. holdings. In issuing the decision, justices rejected Trump’s request to wait until his administration could pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.
TikTok, ByteDance and some of the devoted users who rely on the platform argued the statute violated the First Amendment. The Biden administration sought to show ByteDance’s ownership and control of TikTok posed an unacceptable national security threat.
Tiktok ban: What other apps are out there?
If Tiktok goes dark, what other apps should you try? Stephanie Humphrey, a tech expert joined LiveNOW from FOX’s Josh Breslow to answer that question.
TikTok asked the Biden administration late for a “definitive statement” that would assure Google, Apple and other companies they would not face fines if they continued making its service available nationwide.
Why did Biden have concerns about TikTok?
The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect.
TikTok points out the U.S. has not presented evidence that China has attempted to manipulate content on its U.S. platform or gather American user data through TikTok.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation it into law in April. The law was the culmination of a yearslong saga in Washington over TikTok, which the government sees as a national security threat.
TikTok, which sued the government last year over the law, has long denied it could be used as a tool of Beijing. A three-judge panel made up of two Republican appointees and a Democratic appointee unanimously upheld the law in December, prompting TikTok’s quick appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Source: The Associated Press and Heather Miller contributed to this report. Additional information also came from various sources, including statements from TikTok, President-elect Donald Trump, and U.S. officials. This story was reported
