Apple and Google must remove TikTok from stores by January 19

The leaders of Apple and Google received a letter from the chairmen of the US Congressional Commission on China that the companies should be prepared to remove TikTok from their app stores on January 19, CNN reports.

Last week, a US federal appeals court upheld a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok in the US under threat of a ban on the app. TikTok is used by 170 million Americans.

ByteDance appealed the decision of the federal appeals court to the US Supreme Court.

American lawmakers explain their decision by the need to protect US national security and protect American users, since TikTok is entirely controlled by China.

The US Department of Justice previously stated that if the ban comes into force on January 19, the Department of Justice will not prohibit those users who have already downloaded it from continuing to use the TikTok application. However, complete removal of support will ultimately render the application unusable.

Representatives of ByteDance and TikTok management expressed hope that US President-elect Donald Trump will prevent the application from being banned from operating in the US, as he previously promised.