TikTok to shut down in US on Sunday as Supreme Court rules in favour ban

The US Supreme Court has upheld the sell-or-ban law that will effectively ban TikTok in the country. This means that TikTok will eventually be disabled in the country on Sunday, January 19, signalling an end to the ByteDance subsidiary platform. As stated by the government, the ban is due to national security reasons.

TikTok has been battling for months with a bill signed into law by President Biden in April 2024. The move mandates ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations to another owner by January 19 or face a ban that will halt its download on download App stores. 

The bill followed years of allegations from the U.S. government that TikTok’s ties to China pose a national security risk and that it exposes Americans’ sensitive information to the Chinese government.

Today’s ruling by the Court now makes it illegal for app stores and internet hosting services to distribute the social network across the U.S. as of Sunday. 

Though there has been a series of appeals from two TikTok operating entities and a group of U.S. TikTok users who requested that the ban (a result of the new Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) be dismissed on First Amendment (free speech) grounds.

In a court session held last Friday, the legislation said it does not forbid app usage but would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would run down over time.  

“Given just a handful of days after oral argument to issue an opinion, I cannot profess the kind of certainty I would like to have about the arguments and record before us. All I can say is that, at this time and under these constraints, the problem appears real and the response to it is not unconstitutional… Speaking with and in favour of a foreign adversary is one thing. Allowing a foreign adversary to spy on Americans is another,” the court writes in the latest verdict passed contained in an unsigned opinion.

Court insights

At today’s hearing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stood on the ground that the “sell or ban” law does not violate the First Amendment because it doesn’t aim to regulate free speech on the platform or its algorithm. The DOJ argued that the Chinese government could use ByteDance to secretly turn over the data of millions of Americans.

This follows earlier concerns by the US Supreme Court that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, which is subject to Chinese law. This is especially because that law allows China’s government to access and control private data the company holds. 

“Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” conservative Chief Justice John Roberts asked TikTok lawyer Mr Francisco during last Friday’s session. 

TikTok’s stand during the legal tussle has been that divesting the app’s U.S. operations would be impossible because China would prevent the export of the social network’s algorithm. The platform argued that TikTok would be a fundamentally different service with a different algorithm.

However, the Supreme Court ruled in support of the law while noting that it “appears appropriately tailored to the problem it seeks to address. “Without doubt, the remedy Congress and the President chose here is dramatic,” it acknowledged. But the Supreme Court extended cautions of ruling on technology while considering its positive side and future harm.

“We should take care not to ’embarrass the future,” the court noted in its opinion today.

What next for TikTok in the U.S.

Following the court ruling, all is now set for TikTok to shut down operations in the U.S. on Sunday. Recall we reported on Thursday that TikTok has warned that the app will simply “go dark” on Sunday, but it’s unclear what exactly will happen once the ban takes effect. 

The video content platform plans for users attempting to open the app to see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban. “We go dark. Essentially, the platform shuts down,” TikTok lawyer Noel Francisco told the Supreme Court last week.

According to sources, the company plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information. Users who have downloaded TikTok “might” still be able to use the app, except that the law also bars U.S. companies from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of the App. 

The sources also hinted that the shutdown is aimed at protecting TikTok’s service providers from legal liability and making it easier to resume operations in a relatively short time if President-elect Donald Trump opted to roll back any ban.

The next watch will be whether Trump will choose to make an intervention for the platform or to make an extension for TikTok to make a sale. Of course, there are signs he might.

Earlier today, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had a conversation with China’s leader Chairman Xi Jinping, in which they discussed TikTok, among other things. Though he didn’t say what the outcome was of that conversation. In an intervention in December, he had urged the court to delay its decision until he returns to the White House to enable him to seek a “political solution” to resolve the issues.

“TikTok itself is a fantastic platform. We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data,” Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Wednesday.

As TikTok is already banned from government devices in many countries, including in the UK, it is set to shut down in the U.S. and over 170 million users of the video content platform in the U.S. stands to be disconnected. 

Also Read: TikTok plans to shut down in the US on Sunday amidst “sell or ban” law.