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The US Supreme Court has ruled that TikTok can be banned in the United States

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

The US Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on TikTok can take effect on January 19, rejecting an appeal by the appʼs owners, who argued that the ban violates the First Amendment to the countryʼs Constitution

The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, of peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government. It prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge these rights, while ensuring fundamental democratic principles.
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This is reported by CNN.

The decision comes after warnings from the Biden administration that TikTok poses a "serious" national security threat due to its ties to China. However, questions remain about how the ban will work in practice, as there is no precedent for the US government to block a major social network.

In its opinion, the Supreme Court acknowledged that for the 170 million Americans who use TikTok, it provides “a special and broad space for self-expression”, but noted that Congress focused on national security issues, which is the deciding factor.

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill in March 2024 that could ban the social network TikTok in the US. The bill was supported by the US Senate in April, and President Joe Biden signed the bill into law that same month.

The law will take effect on January 19, 2025, with the possibility of a one-time 90-day extension granted by the president if the sale of the social network is not completed by then.

The US lawmakers say TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over data on American users. The bill would require American TikTok to divest itself of its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or the social network would remain banned in the US.

The US President-elect Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term, but changed his position during this yearʼs presidential campaign and promised to "save" the app.

He explained this by wanting to maintain “competition” with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which he criticized for allegedly censoring right-wing voices. On January 7, the latter said that Meta would work with President-elect Donald Trump “to confront governments around the world that are harassing American companies and increasing censorship.” On the same day, he announced that political content would return to Facebook and Instagram, and that Meta would abandon fact-checking and switch to a Community Notes model.

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