Apple, Google told by US to remove TikTok from app stores – Times of India

The chair and top democrat on a US House committee focused on China have told the CEOs of Google-parent Alphabet and Apple to prepare for TikTok’s removal from US app stores by January 19.
The move follows a US federal appeals court decision last week that upheld a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest its US operations or face a ban.
Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican and committee chair, along with representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top democrat, also called on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to sell the app, which is used by 170 million Americans.
“Congress has acted decisively to defend US national security and protect TikTok’s American users from the Chinese Communist Party. We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture,” the lawmakers wrote.
Apple, Alphabet, and TikTok did not immediately respond. Earlier this week, ByteDance and TikTok filed an emergency appeal to the US supreme court, seeking a temporary block on the law.
The US department of justice has clarified that while current TikTok users on Apple and Google platforms will not be directly affected after January 19, restrictions on support services will eventually make the app inoperable.
TikTok warned on Thursday that the law, absent a court order, means TikTok will disappear from mobile app stores on Jan. 19, leaving it unavailable to new users. ByteDance and TikTok also noted that president-elect Donald Trump has expressed intentions to prevent a ban.
According to a reuters report, republican senator Josh Hawley expressed hope that ByteDance would sell TikTok, emphasising that the law provides no flexibility. “The statute is what the statute is,” Hawley stated in an interview. “The main issue is it’s subject to Chinese oversight, Beijing oversight – that’s the problem.”