On Friday, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the incoming law that would ban the video-sharing app TikTok across the United States.
In an unsigned opinion the court voted unanimously (9-0), rejecting a free speech challenge filed by TikTok owner ByteDance. The law that would ban the platform will currently go into effect as planned on Sunday, January 19.
This ban has been in the works since last April, when President Biden signed a bipartisan bill that said TikTok must be sold from its China-based parent company, or face a shutdown in the United States.
ByteDance contested the ban in court for months by arguing that it would violate the free speech of both the company and its users. This appeal, of course, travelled all the way to the Supreme Court and the current decision.
If the ban does go into effect it means anyone based in the United States won’t be able to use TikTok, even if the app is already downloaded, and Google and Apple won’t be able to offer the app on their stores.
It goes even further than that, however, as web-hosting providers have to cut ties with TikTok or be subject to fines of $5000 for each user that can still access the platform — something that can very quickly add up to billions of dollars.
There is still some chance that the ban may not happen, or potentially could be reversed at some point in the near future. Presumably, if a sale is made before Sunday the ban wouldn’t go into effect — and a few people have noted interest. Mr. Beast has been vocal about wanting to buy TikTok, even stating he’s met with “other billionaires” to try and come up with an offer.
At the same time, President-Elect Donald Trump has commented to CNN on the ban, saying he had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and had a “great talk about Tiktok and a great talk about many other subjects.” When asked about the ban, Trump says he’ll be “making the decision.”
In a volatile situation like this things could likely change extremely quickly, so it wouldn’t be surprising for something to happen over the weekend.
