United States lawmakers are increasing pressure on TikTok, urging Alphabet and Apple to prepare to remove the app from their stores by January 19.
This follows a federal appeals court decision upholding a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban.
Representatives John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi have also called on TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew to divest the platform, which is used by 170 million Americans.
The move reflects growing bipartisan concerns over national security risks linked to TikTok’s Chinese ownership, signaling potential broader action against Chinese tech companies operating in the U.S.
“Congress has acted decisively to defend the national security of the United States and protect TikTok’s American users from the Chinese Communist Party. We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture,” the lawmakers wrote.
Lawmakers emphasized that TikTok has had more than 230 days to complete a divestiture, warning that failure to do so would make it illegal to distribute or update the app in the United States.
