The US Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok nationwide unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for the more than 170 million users it says it has in the US.
But that argument was rejected unanimously by the nation’s highest court, meaning TikTok must now find an approved buyer for the US version of the app or face being removed from app stores and web hosting services.
The White House said it would fall to incoming President Donald Trump’s administration, which takes office on Monday, to enforce the law. Trump has previously said he will find a way to save it.
Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.
The law gives TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, until 19 January to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.
It would mean that from Sunday Apple and Google will no longer offer the app to new users or provide any security updates to current users – which could kill it off eventually.
The company has vowed not to sell TikTok.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, following the ruling, that President Joe Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months: “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.”
But due to the “sheer fact of timing” Biden recognised “actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next administration, which takes office on Monday”.
On Friday, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that he had spoken to China’s President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok among other issues.
The Supreme Court ruled without dissenting opinions that the law did not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that upheld the measure after it was challenged by ByteDance.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court said.
“But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
Credit: BBC
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