TikTok sought to reassure its US employees on Tuesday that they would still have jobs next week, even if the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the video app in the United States on Sunday.
The message is a shift in tone from TikTok, which has otherwise said it is confident it will emerge victorious from a legal challenge to the law. It also shows that the company has no plans to leave the United States in the near future, even if it is banned.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is fighting a law last year that would have banned the app unless its US operations were sold to a non-Chinese owner. TikTok sent a message to its staff on Tuesday acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the impending decision and assuring workers they would continue to be paid. The Supreme Court is expected to rule before the law takes effect on Sunday.
“Your employment, pay and benefits are secure and our offices will remain open, even if this situation is not resolved by the January 19 deadline,” Nicky Raghavan, its chief human resources officer, wrote in the message. TikTok. acquired by the New York Times. “The bill is not written in a way that affects the entities you work through, only the user experience in the US.”
The law would penalize app stores and web hosting services for distributing or updating the TikTok app, effectively banning the platform. It will not force the closure of TikTok’s offices in the United States.
The message also noted: “Our leadership team remains laser-focused on planning for various scenarios and continuing to plan the way forward.”
The memo, which praised workers for their “resilience and dedication,” is one of the few internal acknowledgments from the company of its legal battle in recent months. Despite the existential threat TikTok faces, there has been little acknowledgment within the company that it could soon be banned in the United States, former employees told The Times in November. Executives have, at times, made light of the situation, suggesting in a plenary meeting that it would one day be the subject of a Hollywood movie, some of them said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to an inquiry about its latest headcount in the United States, but the message was sent to an internal “US Team News” channel of more than 13,000 employees. TikTok previously said it had more than 7,000 employees in the US.
“As we await a decision from the US Supreme Court before January 19th, we know you have many questions and wish we could provide a clear roadmap of next steps,” wrote Ms. Raghavan. He added, “We know it’s unsettling not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next.”
