U.S. Supreme Court upholds law pushing TikTok ban by January
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law on Friday that would result in TikTok being banned in the United States unless the platform changes ownership by January 19. The Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. has refused to comply with American regulations.
The Supreme Court upheld the law that threatens the ban of the popular TikTok platform in the USA as early as Sunday, January 19, reports Bloomberg. The judges ruled that concerns over Chinese control of the app and the risk it poses to U.S. national security outweigh the right to freedom of speech online.
Will TikTok be blocked in the USA?
The law is essentially an ultimatum for TikTok's owner, ByteDance Ltd. Either the Chinese company sells the app by December 19, or TikTok will be banned in the USA. Approximately 170 million users in the USA use the platform.
"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 court stated on January 17.
The decision also has serious consequences for American giants Google and Apple. They face the prospect of large fines if they continue to cooperate with TikTok. Bloomberg notes that President-elect Donald Trump promised to save TikTok and may suspend enforcement of the new law as soon as he takes office on Monday, January 20.
ByteDance has been insisting for weeks that it will not sell the platform. Meanwhile, news has spread worldwide that the Chinese, facing a ban in the USA, are considering the option of TikTok being acquired by billionaire Elon Musk.
The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden argued before the court about the validity of the law in this matter. It was claimed that continued Chinese control over TikTok would allow for the spread of propaganda and the collection of American data for espionage purposes.
