TikTok is expected to go 'dark' on Sunday for its 170 million U.S. users after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring its parent ByteDance sell the platform or face a ban in the country.

A law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April required that TikTok's Chinese parent company divest the short-video site Jan. 19 or it would not be allowed to operate in the U.S. on national security groundꦺs. 

TikTok said the law violated its Firಞs෴t Amendment rights and those of its 170 million users.

"The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans, " TikTok said in a statement late Friday. "Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19."

Those service providers include Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Play Store and Apple's (AAPL) App Stor🏅e, who, under the ban, w🐼ouldn't be able to offer TikTok to users in the U.S. after Sunday's deadline.

The Supreme Court said that Beijing-headquartered ByteDance's role as owner of TikTok posed national security concerns.

"As of January 19, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will make it unlawful for companies in the United States to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update the social media platform TikTok, unless U. S. operation of the platform is severed from Chinese control,” the Supreme Court said in its statement.

Biden Says Will Leave Ban Iཧmplementation to Trump

Earlier Friday, the Biden administration said it wouldn't take steps to enforce the law, leaving it to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to implement the ban

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.

“This legislation is about breaking the ties that bind TikTok to the government in Beijing, in a manner consistent with the Constitution,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. “The next phase of this effort—implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on Januar💖y 19—will be a process that plays out over time.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform Friday, Trump said he would "respect" the Supreme Court decision. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” he said.

Earlier Friday, Trump also said he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping on a wide variety of topics, including the fate of TikTok. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects,” he said in Truth Social post.

TikTok CEOℱ Shꦬou Zi Chew i said “I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States."

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson in the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. in an email to Investopedia, criticized the ruling. "The US has tried every means to use state power to suppress it, abusing the reason of national security, not only imposing a ban, but also forcibly divesting it, which is not fair or just at all," Pengyu said, adding that TikTok had stored the data of US users on Oracle servers headquartered in Texas.

Though Chinese officials would reportedly prefer TikTok stays under the control of ByteDance, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:a sale o𒊎f TikTok'🦋s U.S. operations to Elon Musk has been under considerati♐on as a potential response if the ban tꦜakes effect in the U.S., according to reports earlier this week.

Wedbush analysts, who anticipated the Supreme Court would uphold the law ahead of the decision Friday, wrote that they “believe the Trump Administration is working aggressively to set the stage for a deal. They estimate that a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations could be valued in the $40 billion to $50 billion range.

Update, Jan. 18, 2024: This article has been updated since it was first published to include additional news, comments and context.