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US Supreme Court he kept the law Friday which will make a block TikTok in the United States this Sunday.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok provides a means of identification, a means of communication, and a source of community,” the court said. “But Congress has determined that classification is necessary to address well-founded national security concerns over TikTok’s data collection and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company said it plans to turn off the program for US users on Sunday, the last day of the extension.
For more than five years, US authorities have tried to ban or force the sale of TikTok, accusing the Chinese company of sharing information about American users with the Chinese government and filling its feed with pro-China propaganda. Congress and agencies like the FBI haven’t given the public much to prove this, but they’ve taken different steps to block TikTok.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump made the first attempt in TikTok through a failsafe system. In the end, President Joe Biden signed an order on April 24, 2024 demanding that TikTok’s parent, Byteance, sell the app to its American owners by January 19 or be removed from US stores. In a rush to overturn the ban, TikTok and a group of its creators quickly sued the Department of Justice, claiming that the law, Protecting Americans from Inscriptions Against Foreign Critics, violates their First Amendment rights.
In oral arguments on Friday, TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco, and Jeffrey Fisher, who represent the creators, tried to prove the argument. For the government, attorney general Elizabeth Prelogar said that the law did not violate the freedom of speech of the accused, and instead cut the program to the power of Bytedance and China.
“Undoubtedly, the support Congress and the President have chosen here is remarkable,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. “Whether this law will succeed in achieving its goals, I don’t know. A proven external adversary may simply want to replace one lost program with another. As time passes and threats grow, subtle and effective solutions can emerge. “
In its opinion, the court questions TikTok’s central argument that the law violates the company’s free speech rights, writing that “the content of the objection is neutral.” The judges wrote that the law does not appear to regulate the speech of TikTok or its creators, and instead focuses on the program and the corporate structure of Bytedance.
“It is not clear that the law directly regulates protected activities, or practices that have an explanatory dimension,” the opinion reads. “And it directly manages Bytedance Ltd. and TikTok only for divestiture requirements.”
The judges feel that their idea should be seen as “slightly focused” and that it applies to TikTok. “TikTok’s growth and exposure to external adversaries, as well as the large amount of data that the platform collects, warrants diversification to address the State’s security concerns,” he says.
