In a 9-0 ruling on Friday, the US Supreme Court maintained a regulation that would ban TikTok from the US on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell the short-video app by Sunday. The judges declined to save a platform that almost half of Americans use. The court decided that the measure did not infringe upon the First Amendment’s guarantee against government censorship of free speech, which was enacted by a resounding bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Democratic President Joe Biden. Following a lawsuit by TikTok, ByteDance, and a few app users, the judges upheld a lower court’s ruling that had supported the proposal.
TikTok Faces National Security Scrutiny
TikTok, a platform utilized by over 170 million Americans for expression, engagement, and community, has come under fire due to its data collection practices and ties to a foreign adversary. The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously upheld Congress’s determination that divestiture of TikTok’s U.S. operations is essential to address these well-documented national security concerns.
In its unsigned opinion, the court stated, “TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the government’s national security concerns.
White House Responds to Deadline
A White House statement confirmed that President Joe Biden, in the final days of his presidency, would not act to delay the law’s Sunday deadline for TikTok’s divestiture. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Biden’s position, emphasizing that TikTok could remain accessible to Americans under ownership, which would mitigate the identified national security risks. However, implementing the law will now fall to the incoming administration.
Trump Weighs In on TikTok’s Future
President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office on Monday, has stated that his administration will review the TikTok situation. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump wrote in a social media post. During a recent phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump also discussed TikTok-related issues.
Potential Shutdown Looms
Without Biden invoking a 90-day delay provision, TikTok is preparing to shut down its U.S. operations by Sunday, unless a solution emerges. This uncertainty extends to business partners such as Apple, Google, and Oracle, whose services to TikTok could be impacted by legal liabilities under the new law. The legislation prohibits companies from offering services to TikTok or other apps controlled by foreign adversaries, including app hosting.
Court Decision Highlights Security Risks
The Supreme Court acted swiftly, hearing arguments on January 10 and delivering its decision nine days before the divestiture deadline. The court’s ruling reinforced the national security risks posed by TikTok’s Chinese ownership and the potential misuse of sensitive American data.
Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the decision, stating it ensuresthe protection of U.S. national security while upholding constitutional standards. He added, “Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ sensitive data.
