First launched in the United States in 2018, the app quickly became the most downloaded social and entertainment app in the world. By 2020, when Americans were looking for ways to

TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly still searching for non-sale options to stay in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a national security law requiring that TikTok's US operations either be shut down or sold to a non-foreign adversary.

Bill Ford, the CEO of ByteDance shareholder General Atlantic, said Wednesday he was confident that a deal will be reached to ensure TikTok stays online in the US — and suggested there may be

The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

The Supreme Court has decided to uphold the law that will ban TikTok on Jan. 19 if its parent company ByteDance continues to refuse to sell the app before then.

Political shifts and legal hurdles have delayed TikTok's removal, with Biden reportedly kicking the issue to Trump.

After hearing arguments on Friday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold the law, meaning that TikTok will be banned effective if the parent company ByteDance does not sell the company by Sunday.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is on the verge of being banned in the United States. The thing is, the government could go after other ByteDance apps, and there are quite a few of them operating in the U.

The Supreme Court said it may announce opinions on Friday, a last-minute addition that comes just two days before a law that would ban TikTok is set to go into effect.

The Supreme Court issued its opinion on the looming ban of TikTok in America upholding that the law will stay in effect, essentially forcing the app’s Chinese owner to sell its American holdings by Sunday or be forced to go dark.

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the TikTok ban, and Trump has issued a statement regarding the matter.

Justices brushed aside arguments that shutting down the platform prevents 170 million users from expressing themselves and exchanging ideas, writes Roy S. Gutterman of Syracuse University's Newhouse School.