Dec 7 (Reuters) – American content creators on TikTok asked followers to subscribe to their channels on rival platforms like Meta-owned (META.O), a new tab Instagram and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) opened new tab YouTube after a federal appeals Court ruled that the social media app could be banned if it is not sold to a U.S.-based company by Jan 19.
TikTok has emerged as one of the largest U.S. digital forces, now counting 170 million U.S. users thanks, in part, to its allure among younger people for short, often irreverent videos. It has sucked away advertisers from some of the largest U.S. players and added the commerce platform TikTok Shop, which has become a marketplace for small businesses.
The U.S. Congress has passed a law requiring the Chinese-backed ByteDance, the owner of the popular social media app TikTok, to divest its U.S. holdings or face a ban because it fears the Chinese owners are gathering information about American consumers.
A federal appeals Court upheld the law on Friday. Threats from politicians and others to TikTok have been building for years, leading some users to brush off recent threats. That appeared to change on Friday, with the prospect of a ban in just six weeks. A Supreme Court appeal is still possible.
