TikTok Announces Plans To Shut Down In U.S. Unless Supreme Court Blocks Forced Sale

In this photo illustration the social media application logo for TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone in front of a US flag and Chinese flag background in Washington, DC, on March 16, 2023.

TikTok representatives have warned that the company will shut the social media platform down in the U.S. by January 19^th, unless the Supreme Court rules against the order or delays the date that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, is forced to sell the platform.

The Biden administration previously ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok, which has around 170 million U.S.-based users, due to “national security” reasons.

The law was first signed by President Joe Biden on April 24^th, 2024. It was known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” making it unlawful for an entity to distribute, maintain, or update a foreign adversary-controlled application.

The Biden administration’s concerns reportedly stem from the massive amount of data that the Chinese app gathers from its users, which could be utilized by the Chinese government to later “blackmail” U.S. citizens, nefariously using it to their advantage.

The U.S. government has also expressed concerns regarding China potentially advancing “its geopolitical interests” by “sowing discord and disinformation during a crisis.”

“In response to those grave national-security threats, Congress did not impose any restriction on speech, much less one based on viewpoint or content. Instead, Congress restricted only foreign adversary control: TikTok may continue operating in the United States and presenting the same content from the same users in the same manner if its current owner executes a divestiture that frees the platform from the [People’s Republic of China’s] control,” the Justice Department stated.

Meanwhile, on the flip side, TikTok users and content creators have argued that the ban is “unconstitutional,” as it violates the “right to free speech” and expression.

“Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people,” wrote lawyers representing TikTok content creators and users.

TikTok added that the potential ban “will silence the speech of applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts and other matters of public concern.”

Additionally, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Friday morning from both sides, President-elect Donald Trump formally requested that the court delay its ruling to give his incoming administration time to reach a “political resolution.”

Trump further stated that his administration aims to address the national security concerns while also avoiding a TikTok ban.

“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” wrote D. John Sauer, a lawyer representing Trump.

Nevertheless, the Department of Justice (DOJ) attempted to dismiss Trump’s filing, arguing that it took “no position” on either side of the case and that it would essentially equate to a temporary injunction, despite ByteDance not establishing a likelihood that it will win the case.

“The Act does not warrant heightened First Amendment security because it does not impose a burden on any cognizable First Amendment rights of ByteDance, its U.S. subsidiary, or TikTok’s users,” wrote lawyers from the Justice Department.

“Nothing in the Act would prevent a post-divestiture TikTok from presenting exactly the same content in exactly the same manner. The Act targets control by a foreign adversary, not protected speech,” they continued.

Furthermore, Trump previously questioned, “Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?” in a January 2^nd Truth Social post while revealing that he received 2.4 billion views on TikTok, which almost certainly played a key role in connecting his 2024 presidential campaign with a younger audience.

The January 19^th deadline for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling comes just one day prior to Trump’s inauguration.

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