The US Supreme Court ruled on January 19 against TikTok in its challenge to a federal law that would force the popular short-video app to either be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a potential ban in the United States.
The justices upheld the law, passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed into law by President Joe Biden. They ruled that the law did not violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech, and overturned a lower court’s decision that had upheld TikTok’s challenge.
The law, aimed at addressing national security concerns, has sparked a clash between free speech rights and the government’s concerns over TikTok’s data collection practices and its Chinese ownership. The Supreme Court issued its decision after a swift legal process, with oral arguments held on January 1, just days before the law’s enforcement deadline.
In an unsigned opinion, the court acknowledged the significant role TikTok plays for its 170 million American users but supported Congress’s stance that divestiture of the app is necessary due to national security risks. “Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns,” the court stated.
TikTok has been a subject of scrutiny for its Chinese ownership, with concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or use the app for influence operations. The Biden administration has argued that the law targets TikTok’s ownership by a foreign adversary, not the app’s content or free speech.
During arguments, Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Prelogar claimed that TikTok poses a “grave threat” to US national security, asserting that China could leverage TikTok’s vast user data for espionage, harassment, and covert influence. She argued that China could compel ByteDance to hand over data on TikTok users, potentially using the platform as a tool for propaganda and espionage.
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, along with some users, have contested the law, asserting that it infringes on their First Amendment rights. TikTok has warned that the law could hurt not just its operations, but also its users, content creators, and advertisers in the US. With 7,000 US employees, TikTok argues the law could severely impact American free speech.
Despite President Trump’s support for TikTok and his efforts to negotiate a solution, many Republican lawmakers have backed the law’s passage, citing national security risks. TikTok’s future in the US remains uncertain, as the company faces increasing pressure to divest from ByteDance in order to comply with the new legal framework.