U.S. Supreme Court upholds ban or forced sale of TikTok that goes in effect Sunday
While the government won the case, White House admits app's fate in U.S. will ultimately fall to Trump
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday in its challenge to a federal law requiring the popular short-video app be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned in the United States on Sunday.
The justices ruled that the law did not violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech. The justices overturned a lower court's decision that had upheld the measure after it was challenged by TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app's users.
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ByteDance was given until Jan. 19, 2025, to find an American owner for the app or face going dark in the U.S., under bipartisan legislation signed last year by outgoing President Joe Biden.
The Supreme Court acted speedily in the case, having held arguments on Jan. 10, just nine days before the deadline set under the law.
"There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement and source of community," the court said in an unsigned opinion, quoting the estimate of how many in the U.S. have downloaded the app.
"But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."
The court added "we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights."
Trump changes TikTok tune
TikTok plans to shut U.S. operations of the app on Sunday barring a last-minute reprieve, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Biden administration has said the law targets control of the app by a foreign adversary, not protected speech, and that TikTok could continue operating as is if it is freed from China's control.
But the White House said in a statement on Friday that the app's future will ultimately be a matter of concern for Donald Trump's second presidential administration, given the timing.
"TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law," the White House said in a statement.
"Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday."
Trump — who will be inaugurated on Monday — once set the stage for TikTok's removal from American app stores while president in 2020, on national security grounds. But he has since said ahead of his second term that he does not want to see the app, which has more than 100 million monthly average users in the U.S., shut down.
China and the United States are economic and geopolitical rivals, and TikTok's Chinese ownership for years has raised concerns among American leaders.
As well, Trump said on social media he had a good discussion on Friday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a number of issues, including trade, fentanyl and TikTok, without elaborating.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in a video statement thanked the app's American users as well as Trump for "his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.
Chew called it a stand against "arbitrary censorship." The CEO reportedly visited with Trump at his Florida estate last month, and there has also been speculation he will attend Monday's inauguration.
Trump could get 'creative': analyst
Speaking before Friday's ruling was handed down, Anupam Chander, a professor at Georgetown University's Georgetown Law School who has followed the issue, told Reuters that Trump could issue an executive order, invoking the sweeping International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Trump could claim the move would keep users from fleeing to Chinese app RedNote, which is run directly from China and subject to Communist Party censoring, he said.
Such a scenario would not be without its challenges, Chander said.
"I don't want to say it's illegal," he said. "It's creative and it's an affront to Congress, but when you give the president open-ended national security authority, he might exercise it in unexpected ways."
Billionaire businessman Frank McCourt's Project Liberty initiative has said it and its unnamed partners have presented a proposal to ByteDance to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets. The consortium, which includes Shark Tank host Kevin O'Leary, did not disclose the financial terms of the offer.
McCourt, in a statement following the ruling, said his group was "ready to work with the company and President Trump to complete a deal."
Trump's former treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin in 2024 also expressed interest in investigating a bid with an investor group.
The Liberal government banned TikTok's Canadian operations last year on national security grounds, but allowed access to the app, a decision that puzzled some experts.
Government argues China could 'weaponize' app
During arguments in the case, Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Prelogar said Chinese government control of TikTok poses a "grave threat" to U.S. national security, with China seeking to amass vast quantities of sensitive data on Americans and to engage in covert influence operations.
Prelogar said China compels companies like ByteDance to secretly turn over data on social media users and carry out Chinese government directives.
TikTok's immense data set, Prelogar added, represents a powerful tool that could be used by the Chinese government for harassment, recruitment and espionage, and that China "could weaponize TikTok at any time to harm the United States."
India in 2020 blocked TikTok and nearly 60 other Chinese apps over national security concerns, amid a territorial dispute between the Asian rivals that sometimes turned deadly.
The disruption forced content creators to rebuild their followings and businesses on new homegrown apps and established platforms such as Meta-owned Instagram, some creators in India told Reuters. While top influencers successfully made the switch and even expanded their audiences, smaller creators struggled to achieve the same success.
Read the U.S. Supreme Court decision:
With files from CBC News and The Associated Press