After a decisive loss at the Supreme Court, the app is set to be blocked in the U.S. starting Sunday, ending its streak of Houdini-like escapes.According to The New York Times, the popular video app TikTok is facing a decisive loss at the Supreme Court and is set to be blocked in the United States starting this Sunday. This marks the end of the app’s streak of Houdini-like escapes, as it had previously managed to evade a ban from Congress in mid-2023.
For several years, both Republican and Democratic administrations had raised concerns about TikTok’s Chinese ownership, citing potential national security risks. In response, a small group of employees at TikTok had come up with a plan called “Project Achilles” to counter these regulatory threats. The plan involved launching a campaign of TV commercials, user messages, and other public advocacy efforts to shift Washington’s attention away from the app.
However, by the end of the year, TikTok’s leaders, including CEO Shou Chew, seemed to believe that the threat of a ban was no longer imminent and lost interest in Project Achilles. As a result, the plan never came to fruition.
This misreading of the political climate proved to be a grave mistake. Just a few months later, Congress passed a law that would ban TikTok unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sold it to a non-Chinese company. And on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld this law, paving the way for TikTok to be removed from app stores on Sunday.
This marks the end of an eight-year roller-coaster ride for TikTok in the United States, during which the company repeatedly faced and overcame political threats. However, this time, the threats proved to be too great, and TikTok’s complacency may have played a role in its downfall. Despite its popularity and influence, the company was unable to escape the consequences of its Chinese ownership. Behind the scenes, TikTok had engaged in secretive negotiations with government officials and launched advertising campaigns in an attempt to save itself. However, these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.
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