US Lawmakers Demand Google And Apple Told To Remove TikTok Ahead Of Deadline – Will They Comply?

Two prominent US lawmakers, including Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi, have called on Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their app stores ahead of a potential ban set for January 19. This action follows growing concerns about national security risks posed by the China-based ByteDance, which owns TikTok.

In April, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law mandating ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19, 2025, or face a complete ban of the app in the United States. To enforce compliance, House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chair John Moolenaar and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi issued letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Friday.

The lawmakers urged Apple and Google to prepare for TikTok’s removal from their app stores by the January deadline. Additionally, they pressed TikTok’s CEO to “immediately execute a qualified divestiture” to align with the new law.

Their actions come on the heels of a 3-0 ruling by the DC Circuit Court, which upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This legislation prohibits foreign-controlled applications like TikTok from being distributed or updated in the US without divestiture.

In their letter, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi reminded the tech leaders: “Congress has provided ample time—233 days and counting—for TikTok to comply with the law and pursue a divestment that protects US national security.”

They emphasized that under the law, Google and Apple must take proactive measures to ensure their app stores comply with this requirement by January 19.

The lawmakers warned, “Without a qualified divestiture, the Act makes it unlawful to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update such foreign adversary-controlled applications… including any source code of such application.”

This development has intensified the focus on ByteDance’s future in the United States as the January 19 deadline approaches, leaving TikTok’s millions of users in the country uncertain about the app’s fate.

(WITH INPUTS FROM AGENCY)

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