Latest action by the US Supreme Court has inched social media giant TikTok towards an outright ban in the US unless the platform is sold to a US firm.
On January 17, the US Supreme Court rejected a free speech challenge filed by ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, over a bill requiring ByteDance to divest its ownership.
This means that the law, passed by both chambers of the US Congress in April 2024, is set to go into effect on January 19 as planned.
“As of January 19, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will make it unlawful for companies in the US to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update the social media platform TikTok, unless US operation of the platform is severed from Chinese control,” said the Supreme Court.
The law also allows a 90-day extension for ByteDance if significant progress has been made towards a sale.
However, the theoretical ban is unlikely to be enforced from January 19, one day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, succeeding Joe Biden.
According to NBC News, the Biden administration has told the US media that it will not take any action to enforce the law on Sunday.
Additionally, Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL), said Trump would intervene to stop the TikTok ban. “We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” Waltz said to the BBC.
TikTok is already banned in several countries, including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Somalia. Other countries, such as the US, the UK, Belgium, Canada and Australia, have implemented TikTok bans for government officials.
If entirely banned in the US, ByteDance could shift its focus to other populous countries like Indonesia, which is already the number one market for TikTok.
Several entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk, owner of X (formally Twitter), Frank McCourt, owner of the French football team Olympique de Marseille, and YouTuber MrBeast, are reportedly interested in buying TikTok.
Photo credits: Tomas Ragina/FarhanAbbas999/Shutterstock