United States: TikTok is reassuring its 7,000 U.S. employees that their pay will continue, even if the Supreme Court upholds a law that could force a sale or ban of the app. In an internal memo obtained by Reuters, the China-based company which already made it clear that workers’ salaries are safe, regardless of the ongoing legal challenges. What’s next for TikTok amid the uncertainty? Let’s break it down.
As reported by the Reuters, “I cannot stress enough that your wellbeing is my number one priority and so more than anything else I want to reassure you – as employees in the US – your employment, your pay, your benefits and more importantly, our offices will remain open, regardless of whether or not this situation was not settled before the January 19th deadline.”
The law was passed in April, and it appeared that the U.S. Supreme Court is ready to approve it as last week though Trump and lawmakers want to set the Jan.19 deadline further more.
TikTok plans to shut its app for US users from Jan. 19, when a federal ban on the social media app could come into effect, unless the Supreme Court moves to block it, sources familiar with the matter said https://t.co/kj6gUnYevL pic.twitter.com/EROccnivcc
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) January 15, 2025
Trump, who inaugurates on the following day after the law goes into effect, has argued that he should have time once assuming presidency to seek a “political solution” to the problem.
‘As our leadership team stays committed, let me reiterate that we are singularly focused on scenario planning and carrying out the planning of the future,’ TikTok said in the memo.
The company said the bill is not written in a way that affects the firms through which one is occupied, but only US user experience; it will act to preserve employees’ status and more than 170 million TikTok users in the US.
If the court does not stop the law from operationalizing by Sunday, new downloads of TikTok in the Apple or Google app stores would be prohibited but users who already have the app would be able to use it for some time. The services on the platform would gradually decrease and shut down because other companies cannot support TikTok.