The US Supreme Court refused to save TikTok from a law that required the sale of the popular short video app by Chinese parent ByteDance or a ban on Sunday in the United States on national security grounds – a major blow to the platform used by nearly half of all Americans .
Justices ruled unanimously on Friday that the law, which was passed by a large bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden, does not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government restrictions on free speech. The judges upheld the decision of a lower court that upheld the measure after it was challenged by TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app’s users.
“There’s no question that for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, a way to engage and a source of community. But Congress determined that forfeiture was necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court said in an unsigned opinion.
The court added that “we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioner’s First Amendment rights.”
The Supreme Court acted quickly in the case, holding a hearing on January 10, just nine days before the legal deadline. The case pitted free speech rights against issues of national security in the age of social media.
A statement released by a White House statement suggested that Biden would do nothing to save TikTok before the legal deadline for the sale on Sunday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed Biden’s position in a statement that “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses national security issues identified by Congress in developing this law.”
Given the timing, Jean-Pierre added, enforcement action “must fall on the next administration.”
Trump’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but in an interview with CNN, Trump said the decision on the future of the TikTok app would be up to him, but did not provide any details on what steps he would take.
“Ultimately it’s up to me, so you’ll see what I do,” Trump said. “Congress gave me the decision, so I will make the decision.”
TikTok is one of the most prominent social media platforms in the United States, used by around 170 million Americans – about half of the country’s population, including many young people. TikTok’s powerful algorithm, its main advantage, gives individual users short videos tailored to their preferences.
China and the US are economic and geopolitical rivals, and Chinese ownership of TikTok has been a concern among US leaders for years. The fight against TikTok took place during the final days of Biden’s presidency — Republican Donald Trump succeeds him on Monday — and at a time of rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
‘Severe threat’
During hearings in the case, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Prelogar said the Chinese government’s control of TikTok poses a “serious threat” to US national security, with China seeking to collect vast amounts of sensitive data about Americans and engage in covert influence operations. Prelogar said China is forcing companies like ByteDance to secretly hand over information about social network users and carry out directives from the Chinese government.
TikTok’s vast data set, Prelogar added, is a powerful tool that the Chinese government could use for harassment, recruitment and espionage, and that China “could weaponize TikTok at any moment to harm the United States.”
The law was passed last April. The Biden administration defended it in court. TikTok and ByteDance, as well as some users who post content on the app, challenged the measure and appealed to the Supreme Court after losing on December 6 in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Trump’s opposition to the ban represents a reversal from his first term when he aimed to ban TikTok. Trump said he has a “warm place in his heart for TikTok,” crediting the app for helping him with young voters in the 2024 election.
In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to put the law on hold to give his new administration “an opportunity to seek a political resolution to the issues in the case.” But while Trump promised to “save” TikTok, many of his Republican allies supported the ban.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, said Thursday that the new administration will keep TikTok alive in the United States if there is a viable deal. Waltz said the new administration would “put in place measures to keep TikTok from going dark,” and cited a provision in the law that allows for a 90-day extension if there is “significant progress” toward the sale.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that TikTok should be given more time to find a US buyer and that he would work with the Trump administration “to keep TikTok alive while protecting our national security.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, sitting among other high-profile guests.
TikTok said the law threatens the First Amendment rights of not only itself and its users, but all Americans. TikTok said the ban would hit its user base, advertisers, content creators and employee talent. TikTok has 7,000 American employees.
Without Biden’s decision to formally invoke the 90-day delay, companies that provide services to TikTok or host the app could face legal liability. It was not immediately clear whether TikTok’s business partners, including Google, Apple and Oracle, would continue to do business with it before Trump is inaugurated.
Noel Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance, told the Supreme Court that the app is “one of the most popular voice platforms in America” and said the law would require it to be “blacked out” unless ByteDance does a qualified forfeiture.
TikTok plans to shut down the app in the US on Sunday barring a last-minute delay.
Francisco said the real target of the US government with this law is speech – specifically the fear that Americans might be “persuaded by Chinese disinformation”. But the First Amendment leaves that up to the citizens of the United States, not the government, Francisco said.
