The fate of TikTok is in the hands of the Supreme Court, as the nation’s highest court prepares to weigh a federal law—set to take effect Jan. 19—banning the popular social media app unless its China-based parent company sells it, culminating years of debate over TikTok.
The law forcing TikTok to be sold or face a ban was made over national security concerns. (Photo by ... [+]
The Supreme Court announced it will review TikTok’s challenge against the federal law that could potentially ban the app, scheduling oral arguments for Jan. 10—just days before the law is set to become effective.
TikTok requested an injunction from the Supreme Court that would block the ban against it until the conservative majority court rules on TikTok’s legality or dismisses the case, saying the pause would “create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review ... before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed.”
TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to CNN, and argued an injunction from the Supreme Court, which was ultimately not granted, would give Trump’s TikTok-friendly administration time to comment on the matter.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to review the law against TikTok after the court’s three-judge panel said national security concerns outweigh TikTok’s First Amendment rights, later declining TikTok’s request to halt its ruling upholding the law.
Eight TikTok users sued the federal government, accusing them of First Amendment violations and going “unconstitutionally overbroad.”
TikTok filed suit against the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American users were having their First Amendment rights violated.
President Joe Biden signed the bill requiring TikTok to be sold or banned, provoking a response from the platform, which claimed in a statement it “invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”
The Senate voted 80-19 to pass the bill, which Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said was done to “prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”
The House in an overwhelming 360-58 vote passed the legislation against TikTok, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., saying in a statement the legislation was “designed to address legitimate national security and privacy concerns.”
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The ban against TikTok could become effective as early as Jan. 19 unless ByteDance commits to selling TikTok to another company or the Supreme Court decides to take up the app’s requested injunction.
A range of companies have shown interest or been rumored to consider a purchase of TikTok. Amazon has been identified as a potential buyer, with experts pointing to TikTok and Amazon’s deepening ties, such as the announcement of a partnership this year allowing users to browse and purchase products from Amazon on TikTok. Amazon also became the third-largest advertiser on TikTok this year in the U.S. Oracle and Walmart could potentially make a joint bid for TikTok, as the two companies joined forces to buy the app in 2020 before reportedly being stopped by the Biden administration over security concerns. Microsoft could return to the table for TikTok after also trying to buy the app in 2020, though Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he was “happy with what I have” after talks fell through. Video-sharing platform Rumble publicly offered to buy TikTok early this year and could reenter the conversation, having said it was previously “ready to join a consortium with other parties seeking to acquire and operate TikTok inside the U.S.” China, which has vowed to block the sale of TikTok’s algorithm, would have to approve a sale of TikTok to another company, though the country is unlikely to do so.
Yass, who has an estimated net worth of $49.6 billion, is a GOP megadonor and a major investor in TikTok. He reportedly met with Trump and became possibly the biggest influence behind Trump’s switch from attempting to ban the app to later opposing its removal.. The co-founder of global trading firm Susquehanna International Group, which owns about 15% of ByteDance, Yass owned a $33 billion stake in TikTok as of this March and has financially backed conservative lawmakers opposing the ban, such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R.-Ky., donating $24 million and $32,200 to each, respectively, according to The Wall Street Journal. Yass has reportedly threatened to stop donating to Congress members who support the ban against TikTok, which would threaten his multi-billion dollar investment in the app. The billionaire has donated millions of dollars to conservative PACs such as Club For Growth Action ($16 million), the Congressional Leadership Fund ($10 million) and the Protect Freedom PAC ($6 million).
Potentially, though there are hurdles. Trump, who sought to ban TikTok in 2020, has since indicated he’s opposed to banning it and said he has a “warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” crediting it with helping his performance with young voters in the 2024 election. Experts have suggested the president-elect could declare TikTok as being compliant with the law, regardless of whether or not it was purchased by another company from ByteDance. However, doing so could result in lawsuits challenging Trump’s declaration. Trump could also attempt to get TikTok to completely divest from ByteDance through a deal, with James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, telling NPR that China could be more open to approving a TikTok sale if Trump eased off his vows to impose high tariffs on Chinese imports. Former Justice Department official Alan Rozenshtein wrote in a Lawfare op-ed that Trump could lobby Congress to repeal the ban, though in doing so he would have to overcome the law’s bipartisan support. Trump could ask the Supreme Court not to enforce the ban, which may be unrealistic, as Apple, Google and Oracle would have to ignore the law, leave TikTok up and risk financial penalties if Trump later reconsidered his position on TikTok. Lastly, Trump could allow TikTok to go down and bring the app back to app stores and the internet with a one-time, three-month extension that would potentially give time to help facilitate a sale of TikTok.
All of Americans’ TikTok user data could be moved to China in the event that the app is banned from the U.S. A precedent was set for such a move in 2020, when TikTok operations ended in India and left the app and ByteDance with access to millions of Indian users’ data years after the shutdown, according to Forbes.
About 170 million. That is how many Americans used TikTok as of April, according to the app.
At the heart of the federal government's issue with TikTok is national security and data privacy concerns linked to the app and its ties to China. U.S. officials have claimed the Chinese Communist Party could use the app to spy on Americans or influence public discourse. TikTok has shot down claims it is beholden to the Chinese government. The app’s CEO told Congress this year he “disagrees with the characterization" that the platform is spying on Americans and said TikTok is committed to protecting Americans’ data. After the law against TikTok was signed by Biden this year, the app said the requirement to sell itself is “illusory to the point of being no alternative at all.” Experts and reporting by Forbes have shown ByteDance and TikTok are significantly intertwined, as former National Security Agency general counsel Glenn Gerstell told Forbes this year: “There's no way to take the U.S. piece out of TikTok and sell it to someone.” ByteDance has tried to quell concerns about TikTok by noting 100% of U.S. traffic was routed to Oracle and U.S. Digital Service infrastructure in the U.S as of 2022. It has also claimed it is roughly 60% owned by institutional investors including the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group. However, Forbes’ reporting has revealed that ByteDance has used TikTok to spy on journalists and TikTok mishandled sensitive data, including financial information, Social Security numbers and personal contacts of creators, advertisers, celebrities and politicians.
Why A Powerful U.S. Court Thinks The TikTok Ban Doesn’t Violate The 1st Amendment(Forbes)
The TikTok Law Gives You A Right To Your Data. Here’s How To Request It. (Forbes)
If Trump Wants To ‘Save’ TikTok, He Might Need It To Get Banned First (Forbes)
Congress Warns Apple And Google They Must Ban TikTok In January (Forbes)
If TikTok Is Banned, Americans’ Data Could End Up Back In China (Forbes)
TikTok Asks Supreme Court To Stop Federal Ban (Forbes)
TikTok Spied On Forbes Journalists (Forbes)
TikTok’s China Problem (Forbes)