Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden administration on a law that could ban TikTok in the coming days. The court decided in a unanimous verdict upheld the lawIn an unsigned statement, he wrote: “TikTok’s size and vulnerability to control by foreign adversaries, as well as the vast amounts of sensitive data the platform collects, warrant differential treatment to address the government’s national security concerns.”

The ruling marks the end of TikTok’s numerous legal challenges to a law. passed last springthat requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. This comes amid rising tensions between the US and China and just days after the Biden administration’s move restrict exports of GPUs used for AI applications.

In one opinionTikTok said that “unless the Biden administration… immediately issues a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers and ensure non-enforcement,” it will unfortunately be forced to shut down on January 19th. “The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice failed to provide the necessary clarity and certainty to service providers that are critical to maintaining the availability of TikTok to over 170 million Americans,” it said.

White House officials said Thursday that the Biden administration would not enforce the ban on the last day of President Joe Biden’s term. New President Donald Trump, who will be sworn in the day after the ban goes into effect, has done so recommended he wants to “save” the app. That has led to some speculation that he might direct the Justice Department not to enforce or find the law different arrangement This would keep the app accessible.

“The Supreme Court’s decision was expected and everyone must respect it,” Trump wrote a contribution on Truth Social. “My decision on TikTok will come in the not too distant future, but I need time to review the situation.” He also said that he spoke to the Chinese Xi Jinping about TikTok on Friday, but did not provide any information. At the beginning of the week, The Washington Post reported that Trump was thinking about it an implementing regulation that would give TikTok an additional “60 or 90 days” to comply with the law. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, where he will be sit next to it Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Shared in a short statement on TikTokChew thanked Trump but did not say whether the app would go dark this weekend when the ban takes effect. “I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he said. “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.” Representatives for TikTok, Google, Apple and Oracle (which host TikTok’s US data did not respond to questions about its plans to comply with the law.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the uncertainty about TikTok’s future. “Even what might happen next with TikTok remains unclear,” he wrote. “All I can say is that the problem appears real at this time and under these constraints and the response to it is not unconstitutional.”

Free speech groups have denounced the law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it. “The Supreme Court’s ruling is incredibly disappointing because it allows the government to shut down an entire platform and the free speech rights of so many people based on fear-mongering and speculation,” said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, in a statement. “By refusing to block this ban, the Supreme Court is giving the executive branch unprecedented power to silence speech it doesn’t like, increasing the risk that blanket invocations of ‘national security’ will trump our constitutional rights.” “

That’s what the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said a statement that “banning or forcing a sale of a social media app will do virtually nothing to protect Americans’ privacy—only comprehensive consumer protection legislation can achieve that goal.”

TikTok users have also been vocal against the ban. Before the law was passed, Legions of fans called the offices of their congressmen and asked them not to support the bill. The move may have had unintended consequences, as some members of Congress accused TikTok, which had encouraged users to make such calls, of “interfering with the legislative process.” More recently, TikTok fans have pushed a number of previously unknown apps, including a Chinese social media app known as “RedNote” or Xiaohongshu, to the top of the app stores while they look for alternatives.

Update, January 17, 2025, 9:45 a.m. PT: This post has been updated to add details from a statement from Shou Chew.

Update, January 17, 2025, 10:00 p.m. ET: Added TikTok statement.