Apple and Google let TikTok back into app stores
For weeks, TikTok was not available in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store in the USA. Both feared severe penalties. Now comes the turnaround.
(Image: Camilo Concha/Shutterstock.com)
Apple and Google have reinstated TikTok in their app stores in the USA after receiving written assurances from the US Department of Justice that they will not be penalized for doing so. US media report unanimously. At the same time, US President Donald Trump has promised the operator of the popular app a further extension of the deadline for the forced sale, even if he does not believe this is necessary. The news agency dpa quotes him as saying that there is great interest in a takeover of TikTok's US business. Trump wants the USA to take over half of this business.
TikTok disappeared from the app stores shortly before Donald Trump took office after the legally required sale of the US business did not take place. The underlying law provides for severe penalties for US companies that allow the application to continue operating. Trump was not supposed to be able to circumvent this either, but the White House had assured the companies that they would not be held accountable anyway. Until now, only TikTok's hosting provider Oracle and the CDN provider Akamai had relied on this and enabled operation. Now the US government has also been able to convince Apple and Google, even if the legal situation has not changed.
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The basis for the law was the concern that the Chinese government was collecting information on users from the USA via TikTok. While both US parties are therefore in favor of the sales obligation, TikTok rejects the accusations. The TikTok Act (PAFACAA), which was upheld by the Supreme Court shortly before Trump's inauguration, prohibits US companies from hosting TikTok or offering it in their app stores. Violations are subject to a fine of 5,000 US dollars for each of the 175 million US users. However, there has not yet been a showdown over the enforcement of this legal requirement, and so far there has only been verbal criticism from the US Congress.
(mho)
