The US Supreme Court upheld a law that could ban TikTok this Sunday in a new opinion released on Friday.
“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 opinion reads. “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.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company recently said it would shut down the app on Sunday, the deadline for an extension.
For more than five years, US government officials have tried to ban or force a sale of TikTok, accusing the Chinese-owned company of sharing American user data with the Chinese government and filling feeds with pro-China propaganda. Congress and agencies like the FBI have not provided the public with much information that confirms these allegations, but pursued a variety of different methods to ban TikTok.
In 2020, former president Donald Trump first attempted to ban TikTok through a failed executive order. Ultimately, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill on April 24, 2024 requiring TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, to sell the app to an American owner by January 19 or be removed from US app stores. In a rush to stave off the ban, TikTok and a group of creators quickly filed lawsuits against the Justice Department, arguing that the law, the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, violates their First Amendment rights.
In Friday’s oral arguments, TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco, and Jeffrey Fisher, who represents the creators, attempted to drive home that argument. For the government, solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the law did not violate the free speech rights of the defendants, and instead severed the app from Bytedance and Chinese influence.
“Without doubt, the remedy Congress and the President chose here is dramatic,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion. “Whether this law will succeed in achieving its ends, I do not know. A determined foreign adversary may just seek to replace one lost surveillance application with another. As time passes and threats evolve, less dramatic and more effective solutions may emerge.”
The law allows Biden to extend the January 19 deadline an additional 90 days so long as Bytedance is nearing a sale. As of Wednesday,the Biden administration is reportedly searching for ways to save the app, but has not disclosed anything publicly. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED on Friday. A handful of US-based financiers have lined up to buy the app, including former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Kevin O’Leary or Mr. Wonderful, of Shark Tank fame, has signed onto McCourt’s proposal and recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
“We have a formal offer on the table with ByteDance. We are ready to work with the company and President Trump to complete a deal. Together, we can transition TikTok to a clean tech stack and turn this national security problem into a big win for Americans,” McCourt said in a statement responding to the decision on Friday.
