The Supreme Court upheld on Friday a law banning TikTok in the US on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell the short-video app by Sunday, as the justices in a 9-0 decision declined to rescue a platform used by about half of all Americans.
The justices ruled that the law, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, did not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection against govt abridgment of free speech. The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that had upheld the measure after it was challenged by TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app’s users.
“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.
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 said in the unsigned opinion.
A statement issued by the White House suggested that Biden would not take any action to save TikTok before the law’s Sunday deadline for divestiture. Republican Donald Trump, who opposed a TikTok ban, succeeds Biden on Monday.
The court’s unanimity underscored the acceptance by the justices of the national security risks that Biden’s administration cited concerning TikTok, the court said, blunting apprehensions over free speech infringements.
“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,” the court said in the opinion.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement reiterated Biden’s position that “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.” Given the timing, Jean-Pierre added, action to implement the law “must fall to the next administration.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, seated among other high-profile invitees. TikTok plans to shut US operations of the app on Sunday barring a last-minute reprieve, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. TikTok also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a Reuters’ story
