Apple, Google directed by House committee to prepare to dump TikTok

The members of the house committee call on the top managers to Apple and Google to be prepared to comply with a law that could result in TikTok facing an effective ban in the US next month

Letters was sent 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.

The lawmakers were 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 fails to sell TikTok by that date, Apple and Google will be required by law to ensure that their platforms no longer support the TikTok app in the United States, the lawmakers wrote.

“As you know, without a qualified waiver, the law makes it illegal for “(p)rovid(s) services to distribute, maintain or update any such foreign adversary controlled application (including any source code for such application) using a marketplace (including an online mobile application store) through which users within the land or maritime borders of the United States may access, maintain, or update such application,” the lawmakers wrote in the letters.

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

The lawmakers also sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reviewing the court’s decision. They said that since President Joe Biden passed the original TikTok law in April, “Congress has provided ample time for TikTok to take the necessary steps to come into compliance.”

“TikTok has effectively had 233 days and counting to pursue a resolution that protects the national security of the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.

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

TikTok warned that a month of a US ban would result in US small businesses and social media creators losing $1.3 billion in sales and revenue.

President-elect Donald Trump has not publicly stated whether he plans to enforce the effective TikTok ban when he officially takes office on January 20.

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

Yass’ trading company Susquehanna International Group owns a 15% stake in ByteDance, while Yass has a 7% stake in the company, worth about $21 billion, NBC and CNBC reported in March. It was that month too reported that Yass co-owned the company that merged with Trump’s parent company The Truth Social.

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 historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.”