TikTok Ban Law Upheld by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has upheld a law banning TikTok.

As first reported by the Associated Press, the move came Friday, Jan. 17, with the Supreme Court unanimously agreeing with assertions that the wildly popular platform, owned by China’s ByteDance, should either be sold or barred over alleged national security concerns.

“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 Court said in its slip opinion, available here. “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. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”

Amid the Court’s hearing of arguments in the TikTok v. Garland case, critics of the looming potential ban zeroed in on constitutional concerns brought on by such a sweeping move. The American Civil Liberties Union, for example, argued earlier this week that banning TikTok, which is reported to boast around 170 million users in the U.S., would “endanger” the right of “every American to speak and receive information online.”

Moreover, per the ACLU, the U.S. government “has not come close” to meeting the “extraordinarily high bar” inherent in such a First Amendment case.

Ahead of Friday’s news, an anonymous White House official was quoted in a Politico piece as saying that the Biden administration was leaving it “up to the next administration to implement” a potential ban.

In a farewell address this week, Biden spoke more generally about social media, though he did not mention TikTok by name.

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” Biden said Wednesday. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”

Trump, meanwhile, said on Truth Social that he had recently spoken with China’s President Xi Jinping, with the call touching on multiple topics, including TikTok.

“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Trump said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden’s position on TikTok “has been clear for months,” echoing the aforementioned anonymous official’s stance that what happens next should occur once Trump is sworn in at the top of next week.

“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,” Jean-Pierre said.

As it stands now, the TikTok ban, in theory, is set to take effect on Sunday, Jan. 19.