Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company to divest from the app, teeing up a ban set to take effect on Sunday. 

The justices sided with the Biden administration, finding that the divest-or-ban law does not violate the First Amendment just three days before President-elect Trump is set to take office. Trump had urged the justices to delay the deadline so he could negotiate a deal, but the court instead acted with breakneck speed. 

However, the Biden administration does not plan to enforce the law ahead of inauguration, ultimately leaving the decision to Trump and seemingly keeping the app online for the time being, according to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. 

“Under these circumstances, we find the Government’s data collection justification sufficient to sustain the challenged provisions,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The law, which was passed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Biden last April, gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 270 days to divest from the app or face a U.S. ban. 

TikTok has argued that divestment is not a feasible option and that it will “go dark” as of Sunday. It contended the impending ban infringes on the First Amendment rights of both the company and its 170 million American users. 

The court rejected those arguments, instead ruling in favor of the government. The Biden administration asserted that any free speech concerns are superseded by a national security interest over the app’s ties to China, raising alarm that the Chinese government could access Americans’ data or covertly manipulate TikTok’s content algorithm. 

The decision deals a significant blow to Trump, who argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that the Supreme Court should put the Jan. 19 deadline on hold so he could attempt to negotiate a deal once in office. 

Trump has increasingly expressed sympathy with TikTok as the ban approached. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration, and Trump is reportedly considering signing an executive order to circumvent the ban. 

The video-sharing platform has also gained an ally in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who on Thursday called for postponing Sunday’s deadline. 

Rather than delay the deadline, the court instead acted at breakneck speed to resolve TikTok’s lawsuit at every stage. It agreed to take up the case on Dec. 19 and on Friday issued its full opinion just a week after hearing oral arguments. 

It’s a faster timeline than even other cases the court recently expedited, including when it carved out broad criminal immunity for Trump and former presidents in July and months earlier when the justices rejected an effort to kick Trump off Colorado’s ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban. 

Though the app would not automatically disappear for users who already downloaded it, TikTok is expected to eventually become unworkable, as the law blocks app stores from distributing the app or providing updates. However, the platform is reportedly also considering shutting down the app entirely if the ban goes into effect Sunday. 

ByteDance could reverse course and agree to divest, though it has insisted it is not realistic. Several investors have expressed interest in buying TikTok, with billionaire Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty making a formal offer to ByteDance last week.  

If divestment is underway, Biden, with only three days left in office, has the authority to grant a 90-day delay. Even if he doesn’t, TikTok could resume normal operations once a sale is complete.