The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a controversial ban on TikTok may take effect this weekend, rejecting an appeal from the popular app’s owners that claimed the ban violated the First Amendment.
The President-elect will decide the ultimate fate of the social media app set to be banned in the U.S. the day before his inauguration.
Unless Biden is able to step in to block the enforcement of a federal ban, TikTok said that the app will "go dark" nationwide on Sunday.
With the ban upheld by the Supreme Court and the Biden administration leaving, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is banking on Trump to save the app in the US.
In a concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, "Whether this law will succeed in achieving its ends, I do not know."
Challenges came in tandem with TikTok’s success. U.S. officials expressed concerns about the company’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern became the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on the app.
The Supreme Court upheld the law banning TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, couldn't facilitate a sale.
The Supreme Court upheld on Friday a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it, putting the popular short-video app on track to go dark in just two days.
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it is upholding a ban on TikTok in the U.S. Read the full SCOTUS decision here.
The court’s decision Friday means new users won’t be able to download the app and updates won’t be available, but it won’t disappear from users’ phones.
With a TikTok ban likely to move forward after the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling Friday, content creators are sharing their concerns.