Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Forcing ByteDance To Sell or Shut Down by Sunday

The Supreme Court issued its opinion on the looming ban of TikTok in America upholding that the law will stay in effect, essentially forcing the app’s Chinese owner to sell its American holdings by Sunday or be forced to go dark.The Nine handed down its decision on Friday morning on TikTok v. Garland, rejecting a free speech challenge made by ByteDance against The Protecting Americans from The Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed by Congress, and signed into law by President Biden last year out of National Security concerns. The Nine upheld a decision by the lower court.“We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate the petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” the court said in a unsigned opinion.“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”With the new ruling, the immediate effects of access to the app is not known, ByteDance officials said on Wednesday that they planned to shut down the social media platform in America once the ban takes effect, according to a report from Reuters.With calls for a 90-day extension to help secure a sale and keep the app online growing as Sunday’s deadline looms, President Biden announced this week that he would not enforce the ban and leaving to President-elect Trump’s administration to enforce of grant an extension.The Chinese-based Bytedance owns TikTok and has been the center of concern for federal officials, who believe that the app is being used as a way to conduct surveillance on American citizens.TikTok is central to the marketing efforts of American businesses that want to reach young people. However, members of Congress argue that it’s too dangerous to give a Chinese company access to so much data about Americans and to have so much access to American eyeballs.Shortly before the decision was handed down, the incoming President-elect said in a post on Truth Social that he had just spoken to the president of Communist China, Xi Jinping.“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects,” he wrote.At least one bid has been made by a consortium led by investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary and Project Liberty, one that would keep the app running stateside.“We’re the only syndicate that put out in a real bid in front of the company, in front of the bankers, in front of the shareholders and the Chinese government,” Mr. O’Leary said Wednesday on Fox Business, adding that he is also in favor of a “90-day stay” on the Foreign Adversary act to prevent TikTok from going dark on Sunday.“I don’t want to see that happen,” he said. “There’s six million American businesses that depend on it.”

Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Forcing ByteDance To Sell or Shut Down by Sunday

Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Forcing ByteDance To Sell or Shut Down by Sunday

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