The Supreme Court on Friday backed a law that would ban TikTok in the United States if it is not sold to a U.S. firm by Sunday. File Photo by EPA-EFE
Jan. 17 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Friday voted unanimously to leave in place a law that would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores unless it s Chinese parent company divests from the platform and sells it to an American firm by Sunday.
With the law going into effect on Biden’s last full day as president, the ruling essentially turns over enforcement of the legislation to the incoming Trump administration to shut down the app to 170 million U.S. users.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance had argued that the app and those using the app in the United States are protected by the First Amendment. Lawmakers said, though, that data could be collected and used by China.
While the decision was unanimous, some justices wondered out loud how effective it would be.
“A determined foreign adversary may just seek to replace one lost surveillance application with another,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his opinion. “As time passes and threats evolve, less dramatic and more effective solutions may emerge. Even what might happen next to TikTok remains unclear.”
Trump has softened his tone on TikTok after starting efforts to ban it during his first administration. He had called for the court to delay its decision while another “political” decision could be reached.
His administration could decline to enforce the ban and there is a five-year statute of limitations for violating the law.
In another show of support for TikTok, Trump invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to his inauguration on Monday, which he accepted. Trump also discussed TikTok with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent phone call.