Washington: The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to divest from it, thus paving the way for the popular app to be banned from the US beginning Sunday.
India was the first country to ban TikTok.
“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,” said the court in its unanimous opinion.
“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,” said the apex court.
However, the outgoing Biden Administration would leave the decision on this to the incoming Trump Administration, said the White House.
The move comes days before the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President for a second term on Monday.
Signed into law by President Joe Biden in April last year, the bill, passed by wide bipartisan majorities in the House and the Senate, gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 270 days to divest from the app or face a ban from US app stores.
“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognises that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“The Administration, like the rest of the country, has awaited the decision just made by the US Supreme Court on the TikTok matter,” she said.
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” Jean-Pierre said.
President-elect Trump said he would take time to review it but indicated that it may not be too distant in the future.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, a social media platform owned by him.
Welcoming the court’s decision, Attorney General Merrick B Garland said this enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponising TikTok to undermine America’s national security.
“Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ sensitive data. The Court’s decision affirms that this Act protects the national security of the United States in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution,” he said.
“We welcome today’s decision by the Supreme Court. The Justice Department has long warned about the national security harms from PRC control of TikTok — including the ability to gather sensitive information about tens of millions of Americans and to covertly manipulate the content delivered to them,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“The Court’s ruling also underscores that the bipartisan legislation upheld today is focused on protecting Americans, not restricting free speech. Rather, this legislation is about breaking the ties that bind TikTok to the government in Beijing in a manner consistent with the Constitution. The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time,” she said.
AP reports A Tiktok sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones once the law takes effect on January 19, new users won’t be able to download it and updates won’t be available.
At arguments, the justices were told by a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese technology company that is its parent, how difficult it would be to consummate a deal, especially since Chinese law restricts the sale of the proprietary algorithm that has made the social media platform wildly successful.
Without a sale to an approved buyer, the law bars app stores operated by Apple, Google and others from offering
TikTok beginning on Sunday. Internet hosting services also will be prohibited from hosting TikTok.
