TikTok’s statement amid US employees’ concern over job if it gets banned

Jan 15, 2025 03:56 PM IST

TikTok lost its legal challenge with the US Supreme Court, with a divest or get banned ruling on the social media platform.

TikTok has reassured its US employees on Tuesday that they would still have jobs even if the app goes dark in a few days due to a law there that says the app would be banned if it doesn’t get sold to US-based hands.

The TikTok app is displayed on an iPhone screen in Miami, Florida. US president Joe Biden signed a foreign aid package that includes a bill that would ban TikTok if China-based parent company ByteDance fails to sell the app to an American company within a year.

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“Employment, pay, and benefits are secure, and our offices will remain open, even if this situation hasn’t been resolved before the January 19 deadline,” a Business Insider report quoted the company as saying in an internal memo.

This is because TikTok is a global platform and only the US side would be impacted, the company added.

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Acknowledging that the entire episode has been “unsettling for the company,” the memo also added that the TikTok leadership team is planning for various scenarios as it looks at its next possible steps.

This comes after TikTok lost its legal challenge with the US Supreme Court, with the ruling on the social media platform’s parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok to a US buyer or have it banned there being unlikely to be reversed.

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However, there is also the possibility that Republican candidate and new President-elect Donald Trump may try to rescue the app after assuming office since he had pledged to do so while campaigning.