The US Supreme Court upheld a rule on Friday that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States this Sunday.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok provides a unique and expansive space for expression, means of communication and a source of community,” the court’s opinion reads. “But Congress determined that the divestiture was necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and relations with a foreign adversary.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company reportedly plans to shut down the app for US users on Sunday, the deadline to be extended.
For more than five years, US government officials have tried to block or compel the sale of TikTok, accusing the Chinese-owned company of sharing US user data with the Chinese government and filling its feed with pro-China propaganda. Congress and agencies like the FBI have not provided much information to the public to confirm these allegations, but they have pursued various methods to shut down TikTok.
In 2020, former president Donald Trump first tried to shut down TikTok with a failed executive order. Finally, President Joe Biden signed a bill on April 24, 2024 that requires TikTok’s parent company, Byteance, to sell the app to an American owner by January 19 or be removed from US app stores. In the race to end the ban, TikTok and a group of creators quickly filed lawsuits against the Department of Justice, claiming that the law, the Protection of Americans from Foreign Enemy Controlled Applications Act, violates their First Amendment rights.
In Friday’s oral conference, TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco, and Jeffrey Fisher, who represents the creators, tried to clarify that dispute. For the government, attorney general Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the law did not violate the defendants’ free speech rights, and instead cut off the app from Bytedance and China’s influence.
“Without a doubt, the choices Congress and the President made here are extraordinary,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion. “Whether this law will succeed in achieving its goals, I don’t know. A determined foreign adversary may simply want to replace one lost surveillance application with another. As time passes and threats evolve, less powerful and more effective solutions may emerge.”
In its opinion, the court casts doubt on TikTok’s main argument that the law violated the company’s free speech rights, writing that “the challenged provisions are neutral.” The judges wrote that the law does not appear to regulate the speech of TikTok or its creators, and instead targets the app and Bytedance’s business structure.
“It is unclear whether the Act itself specifically regulates a protected expressive activity, or conduct that has a clear component,” the opinion reads. “And it directly controls Bytedance Ltd. and TikTok only through classification requirements.”
The judges noted that their decision should be seen as “less focused” and strictly applicable to TikTok. “The scale and vulnerability of TikTok to the control of foreign adversaries, as well as the amount of sensitive data collected by the platform, justify special treatment to address the government’s national security concerns,” the opinion reads.
Source link
