The U.S. Supreme Court upheld on Friday, a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell the short-video app by Sunday. In a 9-0 decision, the justices declined to rescue a platform used by about half of all Americans.
The justices ruled that the law, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech. The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that had upheld the app’s ban after it was challenged by TikTok, ByteDance, and some of the app’s users.
“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. 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,” the court said in the unsigned opinion.
A statement issued by the White House suggested that Biden, in the last days of his presidency, revealed he would not take any action to save TikTok from being banned before the law’s Sunday deadline for divestiture.
Republican Donald Trump, who opposed a TikTok ban, succeeds Biden on Monday, January 20.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump said in a social media post, adding “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 also said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed issues including TikTok in a phone call on Friday.
The court’s unanimity underscored the acceptance by the justices of the national security risks cited by Biden’s administration concerning China’s potential to exert control over Tiktok, which blunted apprehensions over free speech infringements.
“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,” the Supreme court further said in the opinion.
TikTok plans to shut U.S. operations of the app on Sunday TikTok except a last-minute reprieve occurs. Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, seated among other high-profile invitees. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Without a decision by Biden to formally invoke a 90-day delay in the deadline as allowed by the law, companies providing services to TikTok or hosting the app could face legal liability. At this time, it is not immediately clear if TikTok’s business partners including Apple, Alphabet’s Google, and Oracle will continue doing business with it before Trump is inaugurated. The uncertainty leaves open the possibility of a shutdown by TikTok on Sunday.
The law bans providing certain services to TikTok and other foreign adversary-controlled apps, including by offering it through app stores such as Apple and Google.
More details on the Supreme Court’s decision
