More and more TikTok users are turning to the company’s alternative social media app, Lemon8. This Instagram-meets-Pinterest lifestyle app is heavily promoted by parent company ByteDance.

TikTok said it should “go dark” in the US this weekend unless the Biden administration assures the company it won’t shut down the popular app.

On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law banning the app unless it is sold by its China-based parent company.

The Supreme Court ruled that the national security risk posed by TikTok’s ties to China outweighed concerns about restricting speech for the app or its 170 million users in the United States.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed he can negotiate a solution, while President Joe Biden’s administration has indicated it will withdraw the legislation — which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support — starting Sunday, his last full day in office. , will not execute.

White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but only under American ownership or “Another provision that addresses national security concerns identified by Congress in enacting this Act.” The law will be the responsibility of the new government.

TikTok released a statement late Friday saying, “The statements issued today by the White House and the Department of Justice fail to provide the clarity and assurance needed by service providers to keep TikTok available to more than 170 million Americans.” »

“Unless the Biden administration immediately makes a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers and ensure that this is not implemented, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19,” it said.

It is worth noting why TikTok became so popular and politically controversial.

After amassing more than 170 million users in the country in less than seven years, TikTok is now facing a total ban in the United States.

Anthony Cuthbertson writes that various federal and state bans on TikTok are already in place in the US, with lawmakers citing national security concerns.

These fears have not stopped TikTok from growing in the US.

The app is one of the most popular in America and the world, with 52 million downloads in the US and 733 million times worldwide last year – despite more than 3 billion people worldwide being blocked from downloading it.

British content creators have called a potential ban on TikTok in the US “deeply unfair” and said it could affect people’s incomes.

The future of the short-form video program remains uncertain as a ban looms, but the incoming administration of Donald Trump has hinted at keeping it online.

Aidan Halling, also known by his TikTok handle @etherealgames, creates in-game comedy videos for his 30,000 followers and is worried his income will suffer as the ban could force him to quit the app.

“Many builders rely on this program to make a living, and this program is about to be eliminated,” he told the PA news agency.

“This ban could potentially force me to switch to different content or not post all together.

“While 15% of my followers are American, about 40% of the video’s initial views are from the United States.”

He fears a UK ban could also happen, worrying about the “uncertainty of a stable social media platform”.

Tom Pratt, 23, a TikToker from London who interacts online with users — mostly Americans — by asking them geographic trivia, worries that the app will struggle to continue operating if American users are banned from the platform. be faced

According to a report that has been published, the technology company Oracle could determine the near future of TikTok The New York Times. The company is one of the leading application server providers.

Bob O’Donnell, founder of market research firm TECHnalysis Research, told the publication: “It could become a digital barrier that prevents people from accessing content if they decide to shut it down, which is uncertain. ”

Oracle did not immediately respond Independent’s Request an opinion