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Tennis Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff hopes TikTok isn't banned in U.S.

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Women's tennis World No. 3 and 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff told reporters that she hopes TikTok, the international version of Douyin, a short video app popular in China and created by ByteDance, can keep going, despite a potential ban in her native United States.

TikTok has faced intense scrutiny in the U.S. for years, with concerns escalating from national security assessments to legislative action, lawsuits, and the looming possibility of a nationwide ban.

"I hope TikTok extends," Gauff said at a press conference following her 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jodie Burrage of Great Britain at the Australian Open. "It's a great thing for a lot of small businesses in our country and creators to spread stories."

The young star added what she would miss the most if TikTok were to disappear a pig named Merlin.

"There's a lot of trends. There's like this pig online, his name is Merlin, and he knows how to press buttons so he can talk. It's a pretty sassy pig, so I will miss Merlin the most," Gauff said. She has more than 755,000 followers on TikTok.

Launched in 2017, TikTok rapidly gained global popularity, becoming the second most downloaded app worldwide in 2019, according to data analysis firm SensorTower. In the same year, the U.S. Department of Defense recommended that all military personnel delete TikTok from their devices.

The first Donald Trump presidential administration initiated serious attempts to restrict TikTok in 2020, issuing executive orders citing data collection concerns and potential ties to China's government. Those efforts faced legal challenges that largely stalled their implementation.

Joe Biden's administration initially postponed the legal cases related to Trump's ban, effectively halting them, but rival companies like Meta continued to actively portray TikTok as a threat to children.

In the spring of 2024, the U.S. Congress passed the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," empowering President Biden to ban apps deemed as national security threats. He signed the bill into law, setting a potential deadline for ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations.

TikTok responded by suing the U.S. government, arguing that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the company and its users. On January 10, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case, but did not immediately issue a decision.

TikTok stopped working in the U.S. late on Saturday, and was removed from the Apple and Google app stores ahead of a law taking effect in the country on Sunday, January 19, requiring the shutdown of the platform, which is used by 170 million Americans.

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