TikTok Plans to Shutdown in US But Will Keep Paying Employees

Chinese short-video app TikTok is preparing to shut down in the United States on Sunday — when a law banning it goes into effect — but will keep its employees in the country on its payroll.

American users attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, tech portal The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

TikTok also plans to give users the option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information with them, the report said.

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Meanwhile, in an internal memo, the app told its 7,000 employees in the US that their well-being was “its priority” and that it was going to continue paying them.

“I cannot emphasize enough that your well-being is a top priority and so most importantly, I want to reinforce that as employees in the US, your 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,” the memo to TikTok employees said.

“Our leadership team remains laser focused on planning for various scenarios and continuing to plan the way forward,” TikTok said in the memo seen by Reuters.

“The bill is not written in a way that impacts the entities through which you are employed, only the US user experience,” the company said, adding that it will continue to navigate the situation to protect employees and its American users.

Shutdown not mandated by law

TikTok’s moves follow a frosty hearing in the US Supreme Court on Friday, in which it asked to strike down a law that sets a deadline of January 19 for its Chinese parent ByteDance to sell off US operations or face a ban.

The court is widely expected to uphold the law.

The law, however, does not mandate a TikTok shutdown. Once in effect, the law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores.

Existing users could still continue using the app for some time, but the removal from app stores would mean it would no longer be updated for bugs or security flaws.

TikTok has already said in its Supreme Court filing that if the divest-or-ban law is not halted, it would quickly go dark and “essentially the platform shuts down.”

It also said in a filing last month that it estimates one-third of its 170 million Americans users would stop accessing the platform if the ban lasts a month.

Users turn to other Chinese apps

TikTok’s users, meanwhile, have come up their own contingency plans — and for many, they involve turning to other Chinese apps.

Over half a million ‘TikTok refugees’ have turned to China’s RedNote as they look for alternatives to the madly popular app.

On Monday, that meant more than 50,000 American and Chinese users joined a room called “TikTok Refugees” on RedNote.

Veteran Chinese users, with some sense of bewilderment, welcomed their American counterparts and swapped notes with them on topics like food and youth unemployment.

Occasionally, however, the Americans veered into riskier territory.

“Is it OK to ask about how laws are different in China versus Hong Kong?” one American user asked.

“We prefer not to talk about that here,” a Chinese user responded.

Such impromptu cultural exchanges were taking place all across RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, as the app surged to the top of US download rankings this week.

US downloads of RedNote were up more than 200% year-over-year this week, and 194% from the week prior, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower.

The second most-popular free app on Apple’s App Store list on Tuesday, Lemon8 — another social media app owned by ByteDance — experienced a similar surge last month. Its downloads jumped by 190% in December to about 3.4 million.

Anger against US government

The influx appeared to catch RedNote by surprise, with two sources familiar with the company telling Reuters they were scrambling to find ways to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools.

Still, the company is keen to mine the sudden rush of attention, as executives see it as a potential path to achieve global popularity similar to TikTok’s.

TikTok posts fastest growth in American users among social media apps — Graph: Reuters

Some users said they joined the platform to seek alternatives to Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram, and to Elon Musk’s X.

Some expressed doubt that they could rebuild their TikTok follower base on those apps.

“It’s not the same: Instagram, X, or any other app,” said Brian Atabansi, 29, a business analyst and content creator based in San Diego, California. “Mainly because of how organic it is to build community on TikTok,” he said.

For others the switch was a symbol of anger against the US government for its stance on TikTok.

“Americans using Rednote feels like a cheeky middle finger to the US government for its overreach into businesses and privacy concerns,” said Stella Kittrell, 29, a content creator based in Baltimore, Maryland. She said she joined RedNote in hopes of further collaborations with Chinese companies which she found helpful.

In recent days, TikTok has been flooded with jokes and posts about the app being their “Chinese spy”.

Their posts are part of larger resentment TikTok users feel about the move to ban the app “in the name of security and safety” even though many lawmakers use it, and at a time when platforms such as Facebook and X have become increasing monetised, American news publisher NBC reported.

“I’m going to download it on my phone. I’m going to let it track other apps. I’m going to give it permission to see my location and all of my contacts and then I’m just going to let it sit there,” NBC quoted a TikTok user as saying, in reference to RedNote.

“I’m going to let it sit there as a little window through which my personal Chinese spy can see everything that I’m doing.”

Reuters, with additional editing and inputs from Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]