PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has said he will review the TikTok ban after the Supreme Court upheld the congressional bill banning the platform in the United States.
The ban is set to go into effect on January 19, leaving the platform’s future in the hands of the incoming Trump administration.
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The court voted unanimously to uphold the law passed by Congress and signed by the president last April that would prohibit tech giants such as Apple, Google, and Oracle from hosting TikTok on their US app stores.
“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 decision read.
“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.”
President-elect Trump hinted that he will decide the platform’s future after the congressional law was upheld.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”
Trump reiterated his plans to CNN, saying, “It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do.
“Congress have given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision.”
TIME HAS COME
The law would not immediately remove TikTok from phones nationwide or force it to go dark.
However, tech companies that continue hosting the app or updating it in their app store could face penalties.
US users with existing TikTok accounts can still access the app freely.
But, TikTok could eventually become obsolete as app stores and cloud providers will no longer be allowed to push out updates for the platform.
Under the legislation, individuals would not face fines for continuing to use the app.
Instead, the law gives the Department of Justice the power to fine tech companies that continue to service TikTok up to $5,000 per user, according to ABC News.
With over 100 million users in the United States, that could potentially be billions in federal penalties.
TikTok has signaled that it would shutdown US operations on Sunday, barring a last-minute resolution.
How Donald Trump Could Still Save TikTok
On January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a congressional bill banning TikTok in the United States
The law would not immediately remove TikTok from phones nationwide or force it to go dark.
However, tech companies that continue hosting the app or updating it in their app store could face penalties.
US users with existing TikTok accounts can still access the app freely.
But, TikTok could eventually become obsolete as app stores and cloud providers will no longer be allowed to push out updates for the platform.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will review the banning of TikTok and will make a decision of platform’s future.
The ban is set to go into effect on January 19, 2025, a day before Trump is sworn in as president.
There are several ways Trump could interfere and save TikTok momentarily.
- President Joe Biden has said he will not enforce the law against tech companies who host TikTok on their app store when it goes into effect on January 19, 2025.
- Instead, Biden said it will leave that decision up to the incoming Trump administration.
- Trump could instruct the Department of Justice to ignore the law and not enforce it, while they work out a deal to separate TikTok from ByteDance, its Chinese-owned parent company.
- The president-elect could also sign an executive order pausing the ban for 60 to 90 days.
- Trump’s team have repeatedly said the president-elect has “expressed desire to save TikTok.”
- “President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there’s no better dealmaker than Donald Trump,” a Trump spokesperson said.
On Thursday, President Biden changed course and said his administration did not plan to take immediate action against TikTok once the law goes into effect on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
“Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership,” a White House official told ABC News.
“Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.”
Nevertheless, if President Biden, or President-elect Trump, do not enforce the ban promptly, tech companies will still be affected as long as TikTok is owned by ByteDance.
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‘EXTENSIVE DATA COLLECTION’
TikTok exploded in popularity among young Americans in 2020 as the Covid-19 virus spread globally, forcing health officials to implement lockdown orders and encourage social distancing regulations.
The video-sharing app hosts about 170 million users in the United States.
However, US lawmakers, including Presidents Biden and Trump, raised concerns about the platform, citing national security issues given TikTok’s parent company ByteDance’s Chinese ownership.
Lawmakers on both sides have cited classified briefings that suggest the Chinese Communist Party is able to use TikTok to spy on American users and push propaganda.
National Security officials have briefed politicians on Capitol Hill about the dangers of the social media platform and its “frightening” ability to “access, track, and store” users’ personal data, according to Axios.
The federal law seeks to separate TikTok from ByteDance by forcing the Chinese-owned tech company to sell the platform to a US organization.
President Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to either sell TikTok to a US company by January 19, 2025, or the app would be banned in the country.
Trump, who initially wanted to ban TikTok during his first term, has now signaled to support the app presence in the country.
The incoming president has weighed the option of signing an executive order that could effectively change the terms of the federal law.
The legislation has three conditions that state TikTok must show it’s on a path to separating from its Chinese owner; must present evidence of “significant progress” toward a sale; and that progress must be sealed with “relevant binding legal agreements.”
Trump can also grant a one-time extension delaying the ban for up to 90 days if TikTok presents evidence it is making progress on the terms.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
In their opinion, the Supreme Court described TikTok collection of users’ personal information as “extensive.”
“TikTok does not dispute that the government has an important and well-grounded interest in preventing China from collecting the personal data of tens of millions of U.S. TikTok users,” the court wrote.
“Nor could they. The platform collects extensive personal information from and about its users.
“Data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age.
“But TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, Justify differential treatment to address the Government’s national security concerns.
“A law targeting any other speaker would by necessity entail a distinct inquiry and separate considerations.”
INFLUENCERS SOB OVER TIKTOK BAN
Several TikTok influencers shared videos of themselves in tears as the Supreme Court was poised to uphold the ban.
“It’s my turn to cry on the internet about the TikTok ban,” influencer Emily Seen, @emilyesenn, said to her nearly 350,000 followers.
A second content creator wept, “Is anyone else been crying on this app all night because it feels like we’re losing a community.”
Another women shared a 13-second clip of herself wiping tears from her eyes as she captioned the video, “I feel a little silly crying over an app but tiktok has gotten me through some really hard times and lifted me even higher in the good times.
“It’s inspires my creativity, teaches me things, and connects me with a world of really funny, kind, admirable, weirdo strangers. I’ll miss it a lot. #ban.”
