TikTok Ban Upheld By Supreme Court—Should Start Sunday

TikTok could be removed from U.S. app stores Sunday as the Supreme Court greenlit Friday the federal law banning the app unless it separates from ByteDance, likely shutting down the app in the U.S.—though it remains to be seen what will happen after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated Monday.

Key Facts

Justices issued an unsigned opinion upholding a lower court’s ruling in favor of the federal ban on the app, meaning the law will take effect as scheduled Sunday.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week over the legality of the federal law, which bans TikTok unless Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance divests from the platform, as TikTok and content creators on the app opposed the law and argued it violated their First Amendment rights.

The court ruled the law does not violate TikTok and its users’ First Amendment rights, noting that while the law “certainly burdens [TikTok’s] users’ expressive activity in a non-trivial way,” the policy is focused on China’s control of the platform and “do[es] not target particular speech based upon its content” or “regulate speech based on its function or purpose.”

Justices said the government’s decision to single out TikTok was justified, noting the law’s focus on “a foreign adversary’s ability to leverage its control over the platform to collect vast amounts of personal data from 170 million U.S. users,” and argued that purpose “neither references the content of speech on TikTok nor reflects disagreement with the message such speech conveys.”

They upheld the government’s national security justification for banning TikTok and ruled the law was not overbroad in banning TikTok, since it is a “conditional ban” that just “prevent[s] China from gathering data from U. S. TikTok users unless and until a qualified divestiture severs China’s control.”

In a TikTok video posted Friday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew thanked Trump for his “commitment to work with us to find a solution that makes TikTok available in the United States,” and told U.S. users, “Rest assured we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives ... for years to come.”

Crucial Quote

“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 justices wrote. “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.”

Will Biden’s Administration Enforce The Tiktok Ban?

With the federal ban taking effect on President Joe Biden’s last day in office, his administration said Friday they’ll defer to the incoming Trump administration to enforce the TikTok ban. “Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement after the court’s ruling.

What Will Happen When Tiktok Ban Takes Effect?

It’s still unclear what will happen Sunday when the federal law takes effect, assuming there are no major last-minute moves by TikTok to separate from ByteDance before the deadline. President Joe Biden could technically still delay the law from taking effect for 90 days if there’s evidence of a divestiture, but there’s no evidence of that so far, and Biden has not signaled any intention to pause the ban. The law specifies that companies owning U.S. app stores will face penalties if they continue to host TikTok once the ban takes effect, so Apple and Google will likely remove the app from their app stores, meaning users won’t be able to download the app or update it. The law also outlaws internet service providers from hosting TikTok, such as Oracle, which hosts the app’s U.S. user data. While it’s been up in the air what that could look like in practice—as University of Minnesota law professor Alan Rozenshtein noted to CBS News TikTok could just move those servers out of the U.S., keeping the app online—reports suggest the app will shut down entirely to U.S. users. The Information first reported late Tuesday that TikTok plans to go offline in the U.S. on Sunday, which Reuters confirmed, citing anonymous sources who say users who try to access the app will just see a popup message directing them to a website with information about the ban. Those reports echo what TikTok’s attorney Noel Francisco told the Supreme Court Friday, saying he believed if the ban takes effect, “We go dark—essentially the platform shuts down.”

Are Lemon8, Capcut And Other Bytedance Apps Also Banned?

Yes, the TikTok ban is expected to impact other apps that are also owned by ByteDance, namely Lemon8—which had been viewed as a potential TikTok alternative—and CapCut.

Can Trump Stop The Tiktok Ban?

Trump responded to the TikTok ban on Truth Social Friday, saying the court’s decision was “expected” and “everyone must respect it.” “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation,” he added. Chew—who is reportedly attending Trump’s inauguration—said in his video Friday the company is “grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform.” Trump is reportedly mulling imposing an executive order that would at least temporarily lift the TikTok ban after it takes effect, as the president-elect’s lawyers have said he opposes the law, and reports indicate he wants to try and negotiate a solution with China and ByteDance. The law allows presidents to impose a 90-day delay on the ban taking effect if there’s sufficient evidence that ByteDance is divesting from TikTok—which so far there isn’t, meaning that while Trump could try to temporarily undo the law, any attempts to do so could be challenged in court. Trump could also direct his Justice Department not to enforce the law, though legal experts have warned that would likely not work in restoring the app. Companies affected by the ban, like Apple and Google, are likely to hedge and follow the ban, given the possibility they could face legal liabilities if Trump were to change his mind. It’s also unclear whether China—which will have to approve any sale of ByteDance—will be willing to negotiate with Trump, and The Washington Post reports any negotiations over TikTok are likely to be part of broader political discussions between the Chinese and U.S. governments.

Will Bytedance Sell Tiktok? Who Could Buy Tiktok?

ByteDance and TikTok have so far resisted any suggestion that ByteDance could divest and sell TikTok’s U.S. assets, with TikTok saying in a court filing that doing so would not be possible “technologically, commercially, or legally.” Now that the ban has been upheld it’s unclear if that will remain the case, however, and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar noted to the Supreme Court Friday the government thinks banning the app could be the “jolt” TikTok and ByteDance need to actually start separating. Reports have emerged of potential buyers in recent days as the ban has appeared poised to take effect: Billionaire Frank McCourt said his group Project Liberty has made a formal offer to ByteDance for TikTok’s U.S. assets, and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary has also said he was involved in the deal. China would have to approve any sale ByteDance makes, and James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR China could be persuaded to approve of the sale in exchange for Trump backing off his threat of high tariffs on Chinese imports.

Could Elon Musk Buy Tiktok?

Another possibility that’s emerged in recent days is that billionaire Elon Musk could step in to keep TikTok afloat, even as the Tesla CEO’s ownership of Twitter—now renamed X—has drawn controversy. Multiple outlets report Chinese officials have held private conversations about the possibility of selling TikTok’s U.S. assets to Musk, who has expressed favorable views about China and its leadership and frequently does business in the country. It remains to be seen whether that will actually happen, and TikTok has so far denied the reports as “pure fiction.” Musk hasn’t yet commented on whether he would be interested in acquiring the app.

How Much Would Tiktok Cost?

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives suggested in a note Tuesday that ByteDance would likely look to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets for somewhere between $40 billion and $50 billion. While that’s in line with Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022, it’s far above what McCourt’s Project Liberty has offered. The consortium said in December its offer to ByteDance has $20 billion in commitments from investors, though that amount could now be higher.

Big Number

32%. That’s the share of U.S. adults who support the federal government banning TikTok, according to a Pew Research poll conducted in July and August, while 28% oppose it and 39% are unsure. Support for a TikTok ban has steadily declined, as Pew notes the 32% now backing a TikTok ban is down from 50% who supported it in March 2023 and 38% in fall 2023.

Key Background

The law targeting TikTok was enacted in April following longstanding concerns about the app and its ties to China from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. TikTok has long denied any links to the Chinese government or any wrongdoing, though Forbes has reported on numerous concerns regarding the app, including TikTok spying on journalists, hosting accounts that promoted Chinese propaganda and criticized U.S. politicians, mishandling user data and tracking “sensitive” words. While the law has been enacted for months, the ban became closer to reality in December, when a federal appeals court shut down lawsuits brought by TikTok and content creators on the app, upholding the federal law. The panel of appeals judges ruled the government’s national security concerns justified the ban and the law did not infringe on TikTok and its users’ First Amendment rights, as all content on the app would still be available if the company just separated from ByteDance. TikTok then went to the Supreme Court after the appeals court also ruled against temporarily pausing the law from taking effect, and justices took up the case quickly after, scheduling the case for oral arguments on a timeline that would allow the court to rule before the law could take effect.

Surprising Fact

TikTok users fearing an impending ban on the app have started flocking to the app “Red Note” in recent days, catapulting the app to the top of Apple’s app store as it’s become a primary alternative to TikTok. The switch to the app runs contrary to the federal government’s fears about Chinese influence on TikTok, as Red Note is a Chinese-owned app, and The New York Times reports users are gravitating toward the app as a signal to lawmakers that they do not share the government’s concerns about Chinese influence.

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