jordan pulse -
The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform. This decision puts the widely popular short-video app on the brink of shutdown within two days.
The unanimous decision by the nine justices leaves TikTok's future uncertain for its 170 million American users and places its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to save the app upon returning to office next Monday.
The law, passed overwhelmingly by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress last year and signed by President Joe Biden, has faced increasing opposition from lawmakers who now seek to keep TikTok operational in the US.
TikTok, ByteDance, and some of the app’s users challenged the law, but the Supreme Court upheld it. Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, announced his intention to intervene, stating in a social media post, "I’ll decide on TikTok’s fate soon, but I need time to review the situation. Stay tuned."
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday in Washington. In a statement, Chew expressed gratitude to Trump, saying, "I appreciate the President's commitment to working with us to find a solution to keep TikTok available in the United States."
Meanwhile, Trump revealed that he had discussed TikTok with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call on Friday.
Last April, Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to divest its US assets by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban. ByteDance has argued that the law violates First Amendment protections against government restrictions on free speech and has sought to delay its implementation.
In a court filing last month, the company warned that one-third of TikTok’s 170 million US users would lose access to the platform if the ban were enforced for even a month.