The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a federal law banning TikTok starting Sunday unless it is sold by its China-based parent company, finding that its ties to China pose a national security threat. The threat posed outweighs concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million people. Users in the United States.
A sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones after the law takes effect on January 19, new users will not be able to download it and updates will not be available. The Justice Department has said in court filings that this would ultimately make the app impractical.
The decision came against a backdrop of unusual political movement from President-elect Donald Trump, who vowed he could negotiate a solution, and President Joe Biden’s administration, which has signaled it would not enforce the law starting Sunday. Will do, which is his last full day. in office.
Given TikTok’s popularity and his 14.7 million followers on the app, Trump finds himself at odds with the logic of key Senate Republicans, who blame TikTok’s Chinese owner for not finding a buyer before now.
It is not clear what options are open to Trump after taking the oath of office on Monday. The law allows for a 90-day exemption from restrictions on the app if there has been progress toward sales before the app goes into effect. Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger, who is defending the law at the Supreme Court for the Democratic Biden administration, told the justices last week that it was uncertain whether the possibility of a sale could provide a 90-day reprieve for TikTok after the law takes effect.
During arguments, a lawyer for TikTok and Chinese technology company ByteDance Ltd., its parent company, told the judges how difficult it would be to complete a deal, especially since Chinese law prohibits the sale of the proprietary algorithms that created it. has made. Very successful social media platform.
The app allows users to watch hundreds of videos in about a half-hour because some are only a few seconds long, according to a lawsuit filed by Kentucky last year that complained TikTok was designed to be addictive. And it harms children’s mental health. Similar lawsuits were filed by more than a dozen states. TikTok has denied the claims.
The controversy over TikTok’s relationship with China has become a symbol of the geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing.
The US has said it is concerned that TikTok is collecting large amounts of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, which could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials also warned the algorithm that makes up what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who could use it to shape content on the platform in a way that is difficult to detect. Is.
TikTok says the US has presented no evidence that China has attempted to manipulate content on its US platforms or collect US user data through TikTok.
Bipartisan majorities in Congress passed the legislation, and President Joe Biden signed it into law in April. The legislation was the culmination of a years-long saga in Washington over TikTok, which the government views as a national security threat.
TikTok, which sued the government last year over the law, has long denied that it could be used as a tool of Beijing. A three-judge panel made up of two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee unanimously upheld the law in December, allowing TikTok a quick appeal to the Supreme Court.
Without a sale to an approved buyer, the law blocks app stores operated by Apple, Google and others from offering TikTok starting Sunday. Internet hosting services will also be banned from hosting TikTok.
ByteDance has said it will not sell. But some investors are eyeing it, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt. McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative said it and its unnamed partners have presented a proposal to ByteDance to acquire TikTok’s US assets. The consortium, which includes “Shark Tank” host Kevin O’Leary, did not disclose financial terms of the offer.
Prelogger told judges last week that the law’s taking effect “may be the mere blow” ByteDance needs to reconsider its position.
