January 10, 2025
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US TikTok ban looms as Supreme Court hears arguments
TikTok is on the clock: ByteDance, the app’s China-based owner, must sell by January 19 or face a ban
Participants hold pro-TikTok signs outside the US Capitol building on March 13, 2024 in Washington, DC
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
About 170 million people use TikTok in the US, but that number could suddenly drop to zero if the law signed by President Joe Biden takes effect on January 19. The law forces ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, to choose: Sell the app to a non-Chinese company or face a ban. ByteDance has repeatedly said the app is not for sale.
Instead, the company sued to keep the TikTok app available in the US, and that case has now gone before the Supreme Court. In Friday’s oral arguments, Noel Francisco, a lawyer for ByteDance’s US subsidiary TikTok, Inc., argued that the new law violates that subsidiary’s First Amendment rights, equating TikTok’s curation algorithm with editorial discretion. US Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing on behalf of the nation’s government, responded that China does not have a First Amendment right to manipulate content in the US and said that “the Chinese government can weaponize TikTok at any time to harm the United States.”
The Supreme Court will give its decision in the next nine days.
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Why is the clock ticking on TikTok?
Congress, which passed the TikTok law with bipartisan support, says China’s influence on the platform is a national security threat. The Department of Justice has also raised concerns, including the app’s potential collection of personal data from millions of American users and “hidden manipulation” about its content. (While there is evidence that ByteDance shared non-U.S. user data with China, the U.S. government has not provided direct evidence that the company or its subsidiaries messed with American users.)
What could happen?
If TikTok loses its case, “as I understand it, we go dark,” Francisco told the Supreme Court on Friday. Americans would not be able to download or update TikTok from the Google or Apple app stores. Internet service providers should also face severe penalties if they allow US users access to TikTok.
Americans may react similarly to ex-TikTok users elsewhere. After India banned the app in 2020, users turned to other types of short-form videos, such as Instagram reels and YouTube shorts. Blocked content can also be accessed via virtual private networksor VPNs, which can disguise traffic to appear to originate from a country where TikTok was not banned.
President-elect Donald Trump, on the other hand, has asked the Supreme Court to delay the interpretation of the law until he takes office. An amicus brief filed on his behalf argues that his “expertise in consumer contracting” could save the platform while addressing national security concerns. Last September, Trump promised to save the app, posting on the social network Truth Social, “TO EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO SAVE AMERICA EVERYWHERE, VOTE TRUMP!” legal scholars have criticized it Trump’s request for a delay.
Is the possible TikTok ban legal? Is it security theater?
Civil liberties and free speech organizations oppose the ban, arguing that it violates Americans’ rights under the First Amendment. “Restricting citizens’ access to foreign media is a practice that has long been associated with the world’s most repressive regimes, and it would be unfortunate if the Supreme Court allowed this practice to take root here,” said Jameel Jaffer, Knight’s executive director. First Amendment Institute, the institute said in a news release Thursday.
Some free speech experts have argued that the TikTok ban is more about political posturing than protecting users. The move does little to prevent data brokers from selling US user information to foreign tech companies or brokers who in turn sell it to foreign governments. “Banning access to an app creates no safety or security for Americans’ data from China or any other country,” he said. Kate RuaneAn attorney at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a non-profit civil rights organization, in an interview. American scientific last year
