RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Time is ticking for TikTok.
If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a law signed earlier this year, a ban on the popular social media app will take effect on Jan. 19.
It gives TikTok nine months to break from its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, and find a new American owner.
TikTok and Bytedance officials will argue to the Supreme Court on Jan. 10 that the ban violates the First Amendment.
President-elect Donald Trump, who initially supported the ban, now wants the justices to put a pin in it.
But not everyone agrees.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares released an opinion Friday and said a ban would protect Americans.
He said the app poses “undeniable risks of having their data accessed and exploited by the Chinese Communist Party.”
TikTok has over 170 million users nationwide, giving many users a platform to make a living or market their business.
However, two local users said that saying goodbye to the app may be good.
“It’s bittersweet, because if it gets banned that’s great, because then I will get some time back in my day, but I would lose that entertainment which is a little sad. Either way, I think I will be okay, but I will be sad to see it go,” one user said.
“I can’t draw the boundary myself to get off TikTok because it is addicting. So, if TikTok is banned, I can get some of my mental health back, some of my free time back to go outside,” another said.
Even if the app is banned, some users believe it wouldn’t be long until another comes along to replace it.
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