First launched in the United States in 2018, the app quickly became the most downloaded social and entertainment app in the world. By 2020, when Americans were looking for ways to

The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

After hearing arguments on Friday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold the law, meaning that TikTok will be banned effective if the parent company ByteDance does not sell the company by Sunday.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is on the verge of being banned in the United States. The thing is, the government could go after other ByteDance apps, and there are quite a few of them operating in the U.

The Supreme Court issued its opinion on the looming ban of TikTok in America upholding that the law will stay in effect, essentially forcing the app’s Chinese owner to sell its American holdings by Sunday or be forced to go dark.

The Supreme Court said it may announce opinions on Friday, a last-minute addition that comes just two days before a law that would ban TikTok is set to go into effect.

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the TikTok ban, and Trump has issued a statement regarding the matter.

The Supreme Court rejected TikTok's appeal to halt a law banning the app in the U.S. unless Chinese parent ByteDance sells its stake by Jan. 19.

Justices brushed aside arguments that shutting down the platform prevents 170 million users from expressing themselves and exchanging ideas, writes Roy S. Gutterman of Syracuse University's Newhouse School.

TikTok has shut down in the US, and the app is no longer available to download on mobile. The company has now pinned its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump.

Political shifts and legal hurdles have delayed TikTok's removal, with Biden reportedly kicking the issue to Trump.