TikTok could soon disappear in the US. As soon as January 19th.

US lawmakers have required that parent company ByteDance sell TikTok or it will be blocked from Monday, 19 January. ByteDance has suggested it will not sell the app and that it will take it offline entirely when the deadline arrives.

But a host of politicians and celebrities – from president-elect Donald Trump to YouTube star Mr Beast – are rushing to save the app before that deadline arrives. TikTok itself hopes that the US Supreme Court will intervene and delay or cancel the ban.

TikTok is used by more than 170 million people each month in the US. It has faced criticism over its security practices and accusations that it is dangerously close to the Chinese state.

Those concerns were the stated reason behind bipartisan legislation that passed early last year, after a range of restrictions on its availability. The legislation only requires that the app is taken down from Google and Apple app stores – but reports from within TikTok have suggested that it will instead take the app offline and show users a notification explaining the situation.

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