BBCTikTok has said it will be forced to “go dark” in the US on Sunday unless the government steps in before a federal ban takes effect.
In a statement, it said “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”.
It added that unless a statement was provided immediately by the US government providing assurances of non-enforcement, “unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19”.
TikTok’s statement follows a ruling by the Supreme Court earlier on Friday, which upheld a law that would ban the video app in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by Sunday.
TikTok challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for its millions of users in the country.
The Supreme Court’s ruling means the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web hosting services, unless a buyer is found for the company by Sunday.
It had been thought that the ban would not impact TikTok users who already have the app downloaded on their phones.
But TikTok’s fresh statement on Friday suggests it may immediately become unavailable to all 170 million US users as well as those seeking to download it on Sunday.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.