The video app that once styled itself a joyful politics-free zone is now bracing for a nationwide ban and pinning its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump.

TikTok on Friday said that it would turn off more than 170 million Americans’ access to the super popular video app on Sunday, unless President Joe Biden’s administration acts urgently to assure the company it will not be punished for violating the terms of its looming ban.

The possibility of the U.S. outlawing TikTok kept influencers and users in anxious limbo during the four-plus years that lawmakers and judges debated the fate of the video-sharing app. Now, the moment its fans dreaded is here , but uncertainty over TikTok’s future lingers.

TikTok isn’t the villain here. It’s a symptom of a much larger issue: the lack of clear, enforceable rules for data privacy and security. Instead of banning the app, the government should focus on fixing the system.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a video message to user in the US and thanked Donald Trump after the US Supreme Court upheld a law potentially shutting down the platform due to alleged national security concerns over its Chinese ownership.

The case hinges on whether TikTok can convince Justices that such a mandate violates the First Amendment by forcing a foreign-controlled app to sell or shut down. As of Friday, they have not — and the Court has compelled Tik-Tok to be sold or shuttered this weekend.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew expresses gratitude to President-elect Donald Trump for his support, following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a law banning the app. The Biden administration defers enforcement of the ban,

A US ban of TikTok looks likely to come into effect this Sunday, leaving 170 million American users of the app out in the cold, writes.

A federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld a law on Dec. 6, that could lead to a ban on TikTok, citing national security concerns, as TikTok is owned by Chinese company, ByteDance. On April 24, President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to sell to a U.S. owner within a year or to shut down.

NBC News reports that TikTok has boosted advertisements for Lemon8, an application also owned by ByteDance, in recent days. Rival social-media apps and websites such as Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat are expected to increase their user base in the wake of a possible ban.