The Supreme Court has decided to uphold the TikTok ban and set a shutdown phase
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The Supreme Court On Friday, China-based ByteDance backed legislation requiring it to divest itself of ownership of TikTok by Sunday, or else effective prohibition A popular social video app in the US
ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many US users can lose access to the program this weekend. The app may still work for those who have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut down the app.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Enemy Control Act. Joe Biden signed in April.
“There is no doubt that for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinct and broad opportunity for expression, a means of communication, and a source of community,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said. “However, Congress determined that the separation was necessary to address well-supported national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and ties to a foreign adversary.”
Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch agreed.
The fate of TikTok In the United States, it is now in the hands of the president-elect Donald Trumphe favored banning TikTok during his first administration, but has since flip-flopped on the issue. Trump in December he asked to the Supreme Court suspend the execution of the law and gives his administration “an opportunity to pursue a political solution to the issues at issue in the case.”
Trump has since spoken more positively about TikTok met in February with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass. Yass is a major ByteDance investor, which also owns a stake Truth SocialTrump’s social media platform.
Trump’s inauguration is on Monday, a day after the TikTok sales deadline. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of several technological leaders is expected to participatehe was sitting on the chair.
The country’s highest court said that “while data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age,” TikTok’s sheer size and “susceptibility to foreign adversary surveillance, combined with the wide range of sensitive data the platform collects,” is an opinion. “It is a national security concern.
Under the terms of the law, third-party ISPs like it apple and Google After January 19, it will be punished for supporting ByteDance-owned TikTok.
If service providers and app store owners comply, consumers will not be able to install the necessary updates that make the app functional.
TikTok representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Users are looking for alternatives
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated President Biden’s support for the law, saying: “TikTok should be available to Americans, but only under American ownership or other ownership that addresses national security concerns identified by Congress in drafting this law.”
“Given the precise fact of the timing, this Administration recognizes that enforcement actions should simply be relegated to the next Administration, which begins on Monday,” Pierre said.
Kate Ruane, director of the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, criticized the decision, saying it “harms the freedom of expression of hundreds of millions of TikTok users in this country and around the world.”
Members of the House Select Committee on the Communist Party of China in December sent letters Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai urged executives to prepare to comply with the law.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew speaks to reporters outside the office of Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.
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Last Friday The Supreme Court heard oral arguments From lawyers representing TikTok, content creators and the US government. TikTok’s lead lawyer, Noel Francisco, argued that the law violated the First Amendment rights of the app’s 170 million American users. Meanwhile, US Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar claimed that the program’s connection with China poses a threat to national security.
Many TikTok creators have told their fans to find them on competing social platforms like Google’s YouTube and others. of methane Facebook and Instagram, CNBC informed. In addition, Instagram leaders scheduled meetings after last Friday’s Supreme Court hearing to direct employees to prepare for a wave of users if the court upholds the law.
Chinese social media app and Similar to TikTok, RedNote rose to the top Apple’s app store on Monday shows that TikTok’s millions of users are looking for alternatives.
The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan X will own Elon Musk Acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options to protect the app from an effective U.S. ban, Bloomberg News reported. informed on monday.
If ByteDance decides to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or group of investors, it may have to fork over potential buyers. 40 billion and 50 billion dollarsAccording to CFRA Research Senior Vice President Angelo Zino.
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