TikTok is headed toward closure in the United States on Sunday when a deadline expires for Chinese platform owner ByteDance to either divest ownership or cease operations.

Beijing-based ByteDance was given an ultimatum in April when US President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA).

As the ban approaches, US officials have indicated that there may be a postponement of the app, which is used by 170 million Americans.

Separately, a legal case is before the Supreme Court, with TikTok challenging the ban on the grounds that it violates freedom of expression.

Regardless of the impact a ban might have on millions of users, TikTok’s fate is being closely watched because it could set a precedent for how the United States deals with other Chinese-owned apps and other foreign adversaries, such as CapCut, Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, and Alipay. WeChat.

What will happen on Sunday if the ban continues?

If nothing changes by the weekend, TikTok will be removed from US app stores on Sunday, while US tech companies will be banned from hosting, distributing, maintaining or updating the app.

Over time, the lack of updates will make the app unusable for existing users.

Sources told the media that users trying to access TikTok from Sunday will be directed to a website about the ban and ways to download their personal data.

TikTok did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Officials from the Biden administration and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged to “save” the app during the election campaign, indicated that they are trying to find a way to prevent the app from going dark.

“Americans should not expect to suddenly see a TikTok ban on Sunday,” an unnamed member of Biden’s team told CNBC this week.

Trump’s new national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told Fox News this week that the new administration “will find a way to keep… [TikTok] But protecting people’s data.”

In another positive sign from Team Trump, TikTok CEO Xu Qiu is scheduled to attend the president-elect’s inauguration on Monday.

What can the White House do to stop or delay the TikTok ban?

Under the terms of PAFACA, the President of the United States can grant one 90-day extension if “significant progress” is made toward finding a new buyer for TikTok.

Trump is also reportedly considering issuing an executive order to prevent the app from going dark, according to US media reports.

These signs indicate that the TikTok saga may not reach an end this weekend, said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University.

“President-elect Trump asked the Supreme Court to slow down the process to give him time to find another solution,” Chander told Al Jazeera.

“When he becomes president, he may be able to persuade Congress to amend the law, or perhaps even negotiate the sale of TikTok, or exercise some other authority.”

Why are US lawmakers so concerned about TikTok?

Washington claims that the app poses a national security risk because it could be used by Beijing to spy on millions of Americans and spread propaganda.

While TikTok owner ByteDance is a private company, the Chinese government exercises a degree of influence over the local tech industry that does not exist in the West.

In an attempt to appease US lawmakers, ByteDance in 2022 entered into a partnership with US technology company Oracle to route traffic through its infrastructure and store data on US-based servers.

The move ultimately did not placate Congress, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban along party lines.

Governments, including Beijing, rely on social media to understand public sentiment at home and abroad, said Claire Zhou, senior China analyst at Jane’s in Washington, D.C.

“There is definitely this element of surveillance of social media apps and internet usage. It’s not just censorship,” Zhou told Al Jazeera.

“It’s also a process of gathering information on a broader scale, not just metadata, but actually insights, trends, and… lifestyles, vulnerabilities, and opportunities.”

What about TikTok’s legal case against the ban?

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on January 10.

While the court has not yet ruled, the majority of the justices indicated they were skeptical of TikTok’s arguments that the ban violates Americans’ rights to free expression.

However, human rights groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), have argued that the ban interferes with freedom of expression and distracts from the need for legislation to protect Americans’ personal data more generally.

Foreign adversaries can obtain Americans’ information simply by purchasing it from data brokers on the open market, said David Green, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“Because of Congress’ failure to enact comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, companies from around the world are free to collect Americans’ data, store it forever, and then monetize it through ever-increasing uses and sales,” Green told Al Jazeera.

“Banning or forcing the sale of a social media app will do almost nothing to protect the data privacy of Americans in another country,” he added.