The US Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok in the US unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for the more than 170 million users it says it has in the US.
But that argument was rejected unanimously by the nation’s highest court, meaning TikTok must now find an approved buyer for the US version of the app or face removal from app stores and web hosting services.
The White House said it would fall to incoming President Donald Trump’s administration, which takes office on Monday, to enforce the law. Trump vowed to make a decision in the “not too distant future”.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration with other high-profile guests, said he wanted to thank the incoming president for his commitment to work with the app and keep it available in the US.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.
Passed in April last year, the law allows TikTok owner ByteDance until 19 January 2025 to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.
It would mean that from Sunday, Apple and Google will no longer offer the app to new users or provide any security updates to current users – which could kill it off eventually.
ByteDance has vowed not to sell TikTok and said it planned to shut US operations of the app on Sunday unless there is a reprieve.
The Supreme Court ruled without any dissenting opinion that the law did not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection of free speech.
The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that upheld the statute after it was challenged by ByteDance.
“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 Supreme Court said.
“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.”
‘Stay tuned!’
Following the Supreme Court ruling, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that President Joe Biden’s position on TikTok had been clear for months: “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.”
But due to the “sheer fact of timing”, she added, the president recognised “actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next administration, which takes office on Monday”.
On Friday, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: “The Supreme Court 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. Stay tuned!”
He also revealed he had spoken to China’s President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok, among other issues.
In December Trump said he had a “warm spot” for the app as it helped him with young voters in the 2024 election.
Trump’s comments mark a U-turn on his stance in his first term as president when he aimed to enact a similar ban through an executive order.
‘I was homeless before TikTok’
Content creators, who have been posting farewells to their followers ahead of the looming ban, have been speaking to the BBC about how it could affect their livelihood.
“I went from being a waiter to being able to own a home and it all started with TikTok,” says Drew Talbert, who has more than five million followers.
Kalani Smith has more than three million followers and calls the ban “a slap in the face”.
“I was homeless before TikTok and lived in the back of my car. Using TikTok propelled me to where I’m at now,” he says.
“Everyone is praying for some sort of miracle – it feels like the government has turned their backs on us.”
Kelley Heyer who created the viral Apple dance to a Charli XCX song, says: “The government taking away TikTok is essentially the government taking away jobs from millions of people.”
‘Strong stand’ for free speech
The ban comes at a time of heightened concern in the US about Chinese espionage.
Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app is capable of collecting users’ data beyond what they look at on TikTok.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said authoritarian regimes should not have “unfettered access” to Americans’ data and that the decision prevented China from “weaponising TikTok to undermine America’s national security”.
China enacted a law in 2017 that compels Chinese nationals living abroad to co-operate with its intelligence apparatus.
But Beijing has denied it pressures companies to collect information on its behalf and criticised the ban. TikTok has repeatedly stressed it has not been asked for its data.
The app argued the law endangers free speech and would hit its users, advertisers, content creators and employees. TikTok has 7,000 US employees.
Noel Francisco, lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance, told the Supreme Court during arguments that the app was “one of America’s most popular speech platforms”, and said the law would require it to “go dark” unless ByteDance sold the app.
Posting on TikTok after the ruling, the app’s CEO said: “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president [Trump] who truly understands our platform.”
Getty ImagesHow did we get here?
24 April 2024: Biden signs bipartisan TikTok bill, which gave Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell its controlling stake or be blocked in the US.
7 May 2024: TikTok files a lawsuit aiming to block the law, calling it an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights”.
2 August 2024: The US government files a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media company of unlawfully collecting children’s data and failing to respond when parents tried to delete their children’s accounts.
6 December 2024: TikTok’s bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 is rejected by a federal appeals court.
27 December 2024: President-elect Donald Trump asks the US Supreme Court to delay the upcoming ban while he works on a “political resolution”.
10 January 2025: The Supreme Court’s nine justices hear from lawyers representing TikTok and content creators that the ban would be a violation of free speech protections for the platform’s more than 170 million users in the US.
17 January 2025: The US Supreme Court upholds the law that could lead to TikTok being banned within days over national security concerns.
19 January 2025: The deadline for TikTok to sell its US stake or face a ban. TikTok has indicated it will “go dark” on this day.
