Getty ImagesThe US Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok in America unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for the more than 170 million users it says it has in the US.
But that argument was rejected unanimously by the nation’s highest court, meaning TikTok must now find an approved buyer for the US version of the app or face removal from app stores and web hosting services.
The White House said it would fall to incoming President Donald Trump’s administration, which takes office on Monday, to enforce the law. Trump has previously said he will find a way to save the app.
Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.
The law gives TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, until 19 January to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.
It would mean that from Sunday, Apple and Google will no longer offer the app to new users or provide any security updates to current users – which could kill it off eventually.
ByteDance has vowed not to sell TikTok.
The Supreme Court ruled without dissenting opinions that the law did not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that upheld the measure after it was challenged by ByteDance.
“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,” the Supreme Court said.
“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.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that President Joe Biden’s position on TikTok had been clear for months: “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.”
But due to the “sheer fact of timing”, she added, the president recognised “actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next administration, which takes office on Monday”.
On Friday, Trump told CNN: “It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do.”
He also revealed on his social media platform Truth Social that he had spoken to China’s President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok among other issues.
In December he said he had a “warm spot” for the app as it helped him with young voters in the 2024 election.
Trump’s comments mark a U-turn on his stance in his first term as president when he aimed to enact a similar ban through an executive order.
Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app is capable of collecting users’ data beyond what they look at on TikTok.
China enacted a law in 2017 that compels Chinese nationals living abroad to cooperate with its intelligence apparatus.
But Beijing has denied it pressures companies to collect information on its behalf and criticised the ban. TikTok has repeatedly stressed it has not been asked for its data.
The moves came at a time of heightened concern in the US about Chinese espionage, with TikTok downplaying the ban on federal devices as “political theatre”.
