By Andrew Chung, John Kruzel and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok warned on Friday that it would go dark in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration gives assurances to companies such as Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google that it will not face enforcement action if effected.

The statement came hours after the Supreme Court upheld a law that would have banned TikTok in the United States on national security grounds unless it was sold to its Chinese parent company ByteDance, which placed the popular short-video app in track to get dark in just two days.

The court’s 9-0 decision has thrown the social media platform – and its 170 million American users – into limbo, and its fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who has promised to save TikTok after returning to the presidency in monday

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately gives a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers who have committed to non-implementation, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19,” the company said.

The White House declined to comment.

Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ: ) Google, Oracle (NYSE: ) and others could face hefty fines if they continue to provide services to TikTok after the ban takes effect.

The law was passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Biden, although a growing chorus of lawmakers who voted for it now seek to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app’s users challenged the law, but the Supreme Court ruled that it did not violate the First Amendment protection of the US Constitution against the government’s curtailment of freedom of speech as they argued.

ByteDance did little to remove TikTok on the Sunday date set under the law. But closing the app will be short-lived. Trump, who in 2020 tried to ban TikTok, says he plans to act to save the app.

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I need to have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump in a post on social media.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend Trump’s second inauguration on Monday in Washington.

Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed TikTok in a phone call on Friday.

‘CONTROL OF THE ENEMY IN THE SKY’

For years, China’s ownership of TikTok has raised concerns among US leaders, and the fight over TikTok comes at a time of rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Lawmakers and the Biden administration say China may be using TikTok to gather data on millions of Americans for harassment, recruitment and espionage.

“TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, along with the large amount of sensitive data collected on the platform, justify the difference in treatment to address the government’s national security concerns,” the Supreme Court said on the left. y signature opinion.

TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms in the US, especially among young people who use it for short-form videos, including many who use it as a platform for small businesses.

Some users reacted with shock that the ban could happen.

“Oh my god, I’m speechless,” said Lourd Asprec, 21, of Houston, who has gathered 16.3 million followers on TikTok and earns an estimated $80,000 per year from the platform. “I don’t care about China stealing my data. They can take all my data from me. Like, if anything, I’ll go to China myself and give them my data.”

The company’s powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users short videos tailored to their preferences. The platform presents a wide collection of user-submitted videos, which can be viewed using a smart phone app or on the internet.

As the January 19 deadline approached, millions of users jumped to other Chinese-owned apps like RedNote, knowing they would have to decipher all the platforms in Mandarin to start the their feeds.

“China is adapting in real time to rule,” said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, which submitted a brief in the case against TikTok. “Beijing isn’t just building apps; it’s building a discourse power ecosystem to shape global narratives and influence societies.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the ruling confirms that the law protects US national security.

“Authoritarian regimes should have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ sensitive data,” Garland added.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The Biden administration has stressed that TikTok can continue to operate if it is freed from Chinese control. The White House said on Friday that Biden would not act to save TikTok.

Biden has not formally requested a 90-day delay to the deadline allowed by law.

“This decision will be made by the next president,” Biden told reporters.

The law prohibits the provision of certain services to TikTok and other foreign controlled rival applications including offering them through app stores such as Apple and Google.

Google declined to comment Friday. Apple and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said action to implement the law “should fall to the next administration” while the Justice Department said it would “enforce and ensure compliance with the law after it is enacted in January 19 – a process that plays out over time.”

TikTok said the statements “fail to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that are essential to the continued availability of TikTok to more than 170 million Americans.”

A viable buyer could still emerge, or Trump could invoke a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which says keeping TikTok is useful for national security.

Only one notable bidder has emerged so far — Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, who says he believes TikTok would be worth about $20 billion without its algorithm.

“Beijing needs TikTok more than Washington does,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow and expert on US-China relations at the Hudson (NYSE: ) Institute think tank.

“With that leverage, Trump has a better chance of getting what he wants: The continued operation of TikTok in America without any threat to national security.”