Disappointment, denial and confusion flooded U.S. TikTok on Wednesday upon hearing the news that Chinese owner ByteDance planned to shut off the app for its 170 million U.S. users by Sunday, seemingly throwing in the towel on efforts to keep the popular video-sharing platform going.
Users who have amassed followings and careers on the app hoped for months that TikTok would find a way to avoid a U.S. ban passed into law in 2023. But resignation and anger have begun to set in, with Jan. 19 just a few days away, according to Reuters.
“TikTok signaling that white flag is very discouraging and very sad,” said Joonsuk Shin, 28, a research manager and content creator based in New York.
Some users called for a boycott of apps like Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms, and X, owned by Elon Musk, which are expected to pull in advertisers who used TikTok frequently.
“We all need to delete our Facebook, X and Instagram accounts that same day,” one user said.
ByteDance was given until Jan. 19 to sell the U.S. assets of TikTok or face a U.S. ban, following lawmakers’ concerns that the app poses national security risks because China could compel the company to share the data of its U.S. users. TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user data.
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have sought to delay the law’s implementation, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
Unless the U.S. Supreme Court decides to halt the ban, people attempting to open the app on Sunday will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the shutdown.
TikTok user Amber Goode, 28, a true crime content creator from Colorado Springs, Colorado, complained about waiting for the Supreme Court to make a decision on the fate of the beloved app.
“Why are they playing with us?” Goode said. “I feel like the government is avoiding giving us the answer they already know.”
