The Supreme Court of the United States officially endorses the law that prohibits the activity of the social network TikTok in the country unless it sells its operations to an American company, thus separating itself from its parent company ByteDance. This means that, if there is no last-minute decision by Joe Biden’s administration, the platform will close tomorrow January 19th.
The judges of the Supreme Court estimated yesterday Friday that the proposed law for TikTok does not violate first amendment rights of the Constitution – which protect freedom of expression – which was the main argument in defense of the platform. The decision instead supports Congress’ position on a necessary divestment of ByteDance from TikTok in the country to address the national security concerns regarding data collection practices and relationship with the Chinese government.
“The Court’s ruling underscores that the legislation is focused on protecting Americans”
“The Justice Department has long warned of the national security harm that the PRC’s control of TikTok can cause, including the ability to collect sensitive information on tens of millions of Americans and covertly manipulate the content delivered to them”, they point out from the Department of Justice. “The Court’s ruling also underscores that the legislation is focused on protecting Americans, not restricting free speech. Rather, this legislation seeks to sever the ties that bind TikTok to the Beijing government, in a manner consistent with the Constitution.“.
Joe Biden, President of the United States until Donald Trump is sworn in on Monday the 20th, has also spoken out regarding the Supreme Court’s decision. “TikTok should continue to be available to Americans, but simply under U.S. ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.”, he stated in a statement. And he has pointed out that for a matter of time, Implementation of the law should fall to the next administration.
For its part, TikTok has released a final statement trying to put pressure on the Biden government and points out that both the statements published by the White House and the Department of Justice they do not provide clarity and security necessary about whether service providers – Apple, Google and others – essential to maintaining the availability of TikTok, will be punished.
“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers and ensure that no measures will be implemented, TikTok will unfortunately be forced to shut down on January 19“, the social network said in a statement.
TikTok’s hope is that Biden, in his final hours in office, makes a decision that saves the social network. However, he seems more inclined to leave the matter in the hands of Donald Trump. The magnate and his government could apply an extension of 100 daysas stated in the law itself, with the aim of extending the sale period of TikTok.
Although it was his previous administration that initiated scrutiny of the platform, Trump has now shown himself in favor of finding a solution. This could go through the proclamation of an executive order to paralyze the law while an alternative is negotiated.
What will happen in the next few hours is uncertain, as will be what happens with the application starting Sunday. The application will not disappear from users’ mobile phones, since they will have to uninstall it, but if they might see an informational banner when accessing the platform notifying them of the ban. For their part, starting January 19, companies that distribute TikTok could face fines of $5,000 per user.
The end of TikTok’s activity in the United States would mean the loss of one of its largest user bases, since it is estimated that it has close to 170 million users in the country. It would not be, however, the biggest loss he has experienced, since in 2020 the application was banned in India, where it had 200 million users. At the time, Indian authorities also cited national security concerns among their motivations.