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. In one decision, the court he kept the lawwriting in an unsigned opinion that “TikTok’s growth and exposure to foreign adversaries, as well as the amount of information that the platform collects, warrants diversification to address the State’s security concerns.”

The decision marks the end of many of TikTok’s legal challenges to the law, it passed last springwhich requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or be banned in the United States. It comes amid escalating tensions between the US and China, and just days after the Biden administration moved reduce exports GPUs used for AI applications.

In a wordsTikTok said that “unless the Biden Administration … gives a definitive statement to satisfy the most difficult donors to prove inaction” immediately, it will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19. well and assurance to providers that is necessary for TikTok to be available to more than 170 million Americans,” it said.

White House officials said Thursday that the Biden Administration he would not force it canceling President Joe Biden’s last day in office. President Donald Trump, who will be sworn in one day after the ban is due to take effect, he encouraged they want to “save” the program. This has led some people to think that they can advise the Ministry of Justice not to follow the law or find out other arrangements which would allow the program to be accessible.

“The Supreme Court decision is expected, and everyone should respect it,” Trump wrote post on Truth Social. “My opinion on TikTok will be made soon, but I need to have time to review the situation.” He he said again that he discussed TikTok with China’s Xi Jinping on Friday, but did not say much. At the beginning of the week, The Washington Post he also said that Trump is considering it a general rule which would give TikTok “an additional 60 or 90 days” to comply. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration sit aside Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Briefly shared on TikTokChew thanked Trump, but did not say whether the app would go dark this week when the ban goes into effect. “I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that makes TikTok available in the United States,” he said. “This is a strong representation of the First Amendment and opposition to warrantless searches.” Representatives of TikTok, Google, Apple and Oracle (who crowds TikTok’s US data) did not respond to questions about their plans to comply with the law.

In one opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future. “Even what will happen next to TikTok is unclear,” he wrote. “All I can say is that, at this time and under these circumstances, the problem seems real and the solution is not against the law.”

Free speech groups have criticized the law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the law. “The Supreme Court’s decision is deeply disappointing, allowing the government to shut down the entire platform and free speech of many people based on fear and ideology,” Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement. . “By refusing to overturn this ban, the Supreme Court is giving federal officials the power to block speech they don’t like, and increasing the risk that invoking ‘national security’ could undermine our constitutional rights.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said words that “banning or enforcing the sale of a single television program will not protect the privacy of the American public – only consumer privacy laws can achieve that goal.”

TikTok users also objected to the ban. Before the order is issued. fan groups called their congressional offices, urging them not to agree to the bill. The move may have had unintended consequences as some members of Congress accused TikTok, which encouraged users to make phone calls, of “subverting the law.” Recently, TikTok fans have pushed for a number of previously unknown apps, including a Chinese social media app called “RedNote” or Xiaohongshu, the top of the software stores while searching for alternatives.

Update, January 17, 2025, 9:45 AM PT: This post has been edited to add more information from what Shou Chew said.

Update, January 17, 2025, 10PM ET: Added a TikTok quote.