TikTok, the app that had 170 million users in the United States, is now “going dark” in the U.S. This comes after the Supreme Court upheld the ban in a 9-0 decision.
The CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew, went in front of Congress in March of 2023 to discuss the capabilities of TikTok. Many lawmakers questioned Mr. Chew about the app’s potential to access personal data from the user, “the home wifi network” and “the phones camera to determine whether the contents that illicit pupil dilation should be amplified by the algorithm.”
TikTok says that it will limit access and support in the United States unless it gets clarity from the Biden Administration after the Supreme Court decision.
President Biden said he will try and intervene to keep the app “alive” before the ban takes place on Sunday, but stated that the enforcement of the ban will fall onto Trump.
Mr. Chew posted a video on TikTok thanking President-Elect Trump in his efforts to try and keep the app in the United States.
Trump posted on his Truth Social account about the Supreme Court’s decision with both Trump and Chew still looking for ways to ensure the app remains available for users in the United States.
TikTok users are now frantically mass downloading their videos, likes, saved content and audios to save years worth of data onto their computers and phones using websites like “myfavett.” Many users are now using TikTok’s final moment to organize a nationwide march in protest of the apps ban.
A notable ice cream company, Ben & Jerry’s, posted on their TikTok account to call fellow users to act in a march that will be taking place in major cities nationwide to “peacefully resist every effort to silence us or take away our rights.”
“[F]ascist countries ban apps […] under the guise of threats to national security when every other country knows that it’s about surpassing the free speech of its citizens.” – TikTok User @soupytime
She continued to say that if America actually has a national security concern, “they would ban ALL Chinese developed apps like Shein and Temu that collect the exact same amount of data that TikTok does and you cannot politically organize on Temu.”
Many users on TikTok are now planning to march on Feb. 18 in Washington D.C. and nationwide to protest the apps ban, advocate for freedom of speech and pressure lawmakers into reconsidering their decision.
