Apple, Google ordered by the House committee to prepare to launch TikTok

Members of the House Committee ask the top executives of Apple i Google be prepared to comply with a law that could see TikTok face an effective ban in the US next month

letters were sent on Friday to Apple CEO Tim Cook and alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai from Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, reminding them of their responsibilities as app store operators.

What were the legislators referring to? last week’s decision by the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, to uphold a law requiring China’s ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19. If ByteDance does not sell TikTok before that date, Apple and Google will be required by law to ensure that their platforms no longer support the TikTok app in the US, the lawmakers wrote.

“As you know, without a qualified divestiture, the Act makes it illegal for ‘(p)rovid(e) services to distribute, maintain, or update this application controlled by a foreign adversary (including any source code for this application) through a marketplace (including an online mobile app store) through which users within the land or maritime borders of the United States can access, maintain, or update that app,” the lawmakers wrote in the letters.

The D.C. Court of Appeals later on Friday rejected TikTok’s request to temporarily halt the law from taking effect in January.

Lawmakers also sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reviewing the court decision. They said it from President Joe Biden past TikTok’s original law in April, “Congress has provided sufficient time for TikTok to take the necessary steps to comply.”

“In fact, TikTok has had 233 days and counting to seek a solution that protects the national security of the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.

Although TikTok called the law unconstitutional and said it violated the First Amendment rights of its 170 million users, a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected that argument, saying in an opinion that the law is “strictly tailored to protect national security.”

TikTok warned that a one-month ban in the US would cause US small businesses and social media creators to lose $1.3 billion in sales and profits.

elected president donald trump has not publicly stated whether it plans to do so enforce the effective ban on TikTok when he officially takes office on January 20.

Trump tried to push for a ban in his first administration, but his rhetoric on TikTok began to change after the president-elect met in February with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican mega-donor and major investor in the Chinese-owned social media app.

Yass’ trading company, Susquehanna International Group, has a 15 percent stake in ByteDance, while Yass maintains a 7 percent stake in the company, which is worth about $21 billion, NBC and CNBC reported. informed in march That month it was too informed that Yass co-owned the business that merged with the parent company of Trump’s Social Truth.

Google declined CNBC’s request for comment. Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

A TikTok spokesperson reiterated the company’s plan to take the case to the Supreme Court, “which has an established record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.”