A protester holds a pro-TikTok register entrance of the US Supreme Court docket on 10 January 2025
Allison Robbert/The Washington Submit/Getty Photos
The US Supreme Court docket has upheld a ban on the favored video streaming app TikTok, which is about to take impact on 19 January.
The ban would require US corporations to dam customers from accessing or updating TikTok via app shops or web browsers – until ByteDance, the app’s Chinese language dad or mum firm, sells it to a US firm by the 19 January deadline.
TikTok’s problem to the regulation, which the Supreme Court docket started listening to on 10 January, argued that it violates the US Structure’s safety of free speech. On the identical day, the courtroom heard arguments in a associated case: a authorized counsel representing TikTok content material creators argued {that a} ban additionally infringes on these people’ constitutional rights.
However the US solicitor normal, Elizabeth Prelogar, argued that the ban on TikTok is about stopping international espionage versus clamping down on free speech. The US authorities’s case is that the Chinese language authorities may use TikTok to gather delicate private information on tons of of tens of millions of individuals within the US that might be later used towards them.
The Supreme Court docket unanimously agreed with the federal government’s argument, ruling towards TikTok and particular person creators in each circumstances. “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. 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,” the opinion states.
TikTok will shut down the app for US customers on the identical day the ban goes into impact, 19 January, based on Reuters. However this might not be the final twist within the authorized drama.
US President Joe Biden will depart workplace on 20 January, the day after the ban kicks in. An official in his administration has acknowledged that Biden received’t implement the regulation, based on AP Information. As a substitute, the energy of the ban will depend on the actions of President-Elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration.
Trump initially supported a TikTok ban throughout his first time period as president, however has since modified his stance, expressing assist for permitting the platform to proceed US operations. After he takes workplace on 20 January, he may ask law-makers to repeal or amend the regulation or instruct the federal government to not implement it.
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