The U.S. Is Banning TikTok Downloads This Sunday

TikTok, TikTok, time is up. The United States Commerce Department has announced plans to ban TikTok this Sunday, September 20, putting into motion the Trump administration’s August executive order. According to a press release, the Commerce Department will prohibit any attempt to download or update TikTok through an app store as of Sunday. The same goes for the app WeChat, which Trump launched a similar executive order against. The Department adds that it will be illegal for internet-service providers to enable “the functioning or optimization” of WeChat as of Sunday and TikTok as of November 12. So, the apps will just stop working. Further restrictions, such as banning workaround apps, could be announced later. “The president has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved,” the press release reads. “If they are, the prohibitions in this order may be lifted.” There’s still a chance!

Trump initially gave TikTok 45 days from August 6 to be sold to a U.S. company from Chinese owners ByteDance or risk being banned. The administration suggested that the app is giving information to the Chinese government, claiming the ban is to protect us from “China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data.” TikTok denies these allegations. The company responded with a lawsuit stating the order “has the potential to strip the rights of that community without any evidence to justify such an extreme action, and without any due process.” They have since partnered with California-based tech company Oracle, the CEO of which has fundraised for Trump in the past. With things looking bleak for TikTok, Charli D’Amelio, Josh Richards, and other popular creators have already gotten comfortable on competing app Triller. Let’s be honest, that’s where all the good dances were coming from, anyway.