UK government delivers verdict on future of TikTok as US ban looms

UK officials have said that they have "no plans" to outlaw TikTok as a US ban on the app is set to come into force on Sunday (January 19).

The video-led social media platform lost a last-ditch attempt to delay the ban after the US Supreme Court ruled that it would not be unconstitutional due to free speech. Outgoing US President Joe Biden gave a deadline of January 19 for the US arm of the platform to be sold by its parent company ByteDance, a China-based company.

The US federal government has justified the ban by arguing that TikTok poses a risk to national security. But the ruling has sparked outrage from US users, who have criticised it for endangering the livelihoods of people businesses that rely on it for their income. Some have also criticised the ban as an attack on freedom of speech, despite the ruling of the US Supreme Court.

Many US users of the app have protested the ban by making accounts on Xiaohongshu, or 'REDBook', a Chinese social media app named after Mao's Little Red Book. US interest in REDBook has propelled the app up the charts on app stores, with "#tiktokrefugee" reportedly trending on the platform.

Now, the UK government has said that it has ruled out a similar ban in the UK. A UK Government spokesperson said: “This is a matter for the US government. There are no plans to introduce a TikTok ban in the UK.

“We engage with all major social media companies to understand their plans for ensuring the security of UK data and to ensure they meet the high data protection and cyber security standards we expect.”

Although Biden's administration has said it will not enforce the law, TikTok has said it will be forced to "go dark" in the US unless it receives assurances that the US government will not enforce