The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden administration on legislation that could ban TikTok in the coming days. In a unanimous decision, the court upheld the law, writing in an unsigned opinion that “TikTok’s level and vulnerability to the control of foreign adversaries, as well as the vast amount of sensitive data collected by the platform, justify different management to address the government’s national security concerns.”
The decision marks the end of several legal challenges to TikTok, which were passed last spring, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. It comes amid escalating tensions between the US and China, and just days after the Biden Administration moved to restrict shipments of GPUs used for AI applications.
In a statement, TikTok said that “unless the Biden Administration…provides a clear statement to the satisfaction of the providers of the most important services that ensure non-compliance” immediately, it will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19. “Statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that is essential to maintaining the availability of TikTok to more than 170 million Americans,” said.
White House officials said Thursday that the Biden Administration will not enforce the ban on President Joe Biden’s last day in office. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in one day after the ban is due to take effect, has suggested he wants to “save” the program. That has prompted speculation that he could order the Justice Department not to implement the law or find another plan that would allow the app to remain accessible.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone should respect it,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “My decision on TikTok will be taken soon, but I have to have time to review the situation.” He also said he discussed TikTok with China’s Xi Jinping on Friday, but did not provide details. At the beginning of the week, The Washington Post reported that Trump was considering an order that would give TikTok an additional “60 or 90 days” to comply. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration where he will sit with Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
In a short statement shared on TikTok, Chew thanked Trump, but did not say that the app will go dark this weekend when the ban goes into effect. “I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he said. “This is a strong position of the First Amendment and it withstands unconstitutional scrutiny.” Representatives for TikTok, Google, Apple and Oracle (which hosts TikTok’s US data) have yet to respond to questions about their compliance plans.
In a similar opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future. “Even what could happen next to TikTok is still unclear,” he wrote. “What I can say is that, at this time and under these constraints, the problem appears to be real and the answer to it is not unconstitutional.”
Liberal organizations have criticized the law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it. “The Supreme Court’s decision is incredibly disappointing, allowing the government to shut down the entire forum and free speech rights of many people based on fear and speculation,” said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, in a statement. . “By refusing to block this ban, the Supreme Court is giving the executive branch unprecedented power to silence speech it doesn’t like, increasing the risk that blanket invocations of ‘national security’ will violate our constitutional rights.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said in a statement that “a ban or forced sale of a single social media app will do nothing to protect the data privacy of Americans — only comprehensive consumer privacy legislation can achieve that goal.”
TikTok users are also strongly against the ban. Before the law was passed, legions of supporters called the offices of their Congressional representatives, urging them not to support the bill. The move may have had unintended consequences as some members of Congress accused TikTok, which encouraged users to make phone calls, of “obstructing the legislative process.” Recently, TikTok fans have pushed several previously unknown apps, including a Chinese social media app known as “RedNote” or Xiaohongshu, to the top of app stores as they look for alternatives.
Update, January 17, 2025, 9:45 AM PT: This post has been updated to add information from a statement made by Shou Chew.
Update, January 17, 2025, 10PM ET: Added TikTok statement.
