The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision on Friday, upholding a law that demands TikTok be sold off by its Chinese state-owned parent company, ByteDance. The ruling raises significant concerns for the platform’s more than 170 million American users, as it sets a January 19 deadline for the divestment to take place.
This decision has left both outgoing President Biden and incoming President-elect Trump in a delicate position, with both administrations having expressed hesitation about fully backing such a drastic move.
“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 court acknowledged in its unsigned opinion. Yet, the justices determined that national security concerns surrounding TikTok’s data collection practices and its ties to a “foreign adversary” outweighed those freedoms.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, in a separate concurring opinion, admitted the severity of the law’s consequences. “Without doubt, the remedy Congress and the President chose here is dramatic,” he wrote. He emphasized that years of negotiations had failed to find a less drastic solution, ultimately leaving divestiture or closure as the only options.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar made a compelling case last week, arguing that divestment was the only way to protect Americans from potential foreign surveillance. Her reassurance that “Americans’ free speech could be unrestricted once TikTok is freed from foreign adversary control” seems to have swayed the court. But does this offer enough assurance to users who depend on TikTok as a key platform for connection and creativity?
With the clock ticking, the stakes are high. Congress passed the legislation back in April, with bipartisan support, and President Biden signed it into law. But as his administration winds down, Biden is deferring the enforcement of this law to President-elect Trump.
The uncertainty has many worried. Will Trump’s return to the White House bring clarity, or will this decision upend a beloved platform? White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized Biden’s consistent stance: “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.”
For now, TikTok’s fate—and that of its millions of users in the U.S.—hangs in the balance.
