Supreme Court Upholds Ban on China-Owned Social Media Platform TikTok
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that would ban China-owned social media platform TikTok just two days before the bipartisan divestiture law is slated to take effect. The law requires TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services.
The court concluded that Congress’s concerns over TikTok’s data collection practices and relationships with a foreign adversary justify the divestiture. The law was passed by Congress in April with wide bipartisan support.
The law’s proponents argued that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a grave national security risk, citing the potential for China to manipulate the app’s algorithm or demand access to vast amounts of user data. TikTok, ByteDance, and several users of the app sued to block the ban, arguing that it would suppress free speech for the millions of Americans who use the platform.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court found that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. The law was upheld, allowing the ban to move forward and paving the way for TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office on January 20, did not immediately respond to the court’s decision. However, he has expressed support for the app in the past and has invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to attend his inauguration. Trump has also spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the issue and has discussed the possibility of the app being used by China to gather information on American users.