The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold a law that forces TikTok to divest its Chinese ownership to avert a nationwide ban set to take effect on Sunday, in an opinion issued Friday.
“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 opinion reads.
“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. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” it continues.
All nine justices had appeared skeptical of TikTok’s argument that the law violates the First Amendment rights of the platform and its user base of over 170 million Americans during the hearing last week.
“Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked.
TikTok has faced scrutiny for years over its ties to China despite its efforts to dampen concerns.
President Joe Biden in April signed the law that required ByteDance to sell the U.S. assets of TikTok or see the platform be removed from app stores in the U.S. on Jan. 19, a day ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration. However, Biden this week signalled he will not enforce the ban, handing over the issue to Trump.
Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term in office, has since had a change of heart and recently called on the Supreme Court to stay implementation of a potential ban to allow him to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue at hand.
But TikTok’s prospects in the U.S. have looked dim for some time now.
TikTok sued the U.S. federal government shortly after Biden signed the legislation into law, describing it as unconstitutional.
A federal appeals court last month ruled against TikTok, and later also denied the company’s request to delay enforcement of the legislation, before the Supreme Court announced it would review the case.
The Supreme Court’s opinion upheld that federal appeals court decision by rejecting arguments made by TikTok and creators who use the platform that the law violated their First Amendment right to free speech.
Most of the decision centred on whether the law forcing a TikTok sale from ByteDance directly impinged on the company’s and the user’s free speech rights. The court determined that, while the law did cause free speech concerns, it ultimately could stand because it targeted speech in a “content-neutral” manner and provided non-content-based rationales.
“It is not clear that the Act itself directly regulates protected expressive activity, or conduct with an expressive component,” the court said. “Indeed, the Act does not regulate the creator petitioners at all. And it directly regulates ByteDance Ltd. and TikTok Inc. only through the divestiture requirement.”
ByteDance has long said it has no plans to sell the U.S. assets of the platform despite the fact that at least one U.S. buyer has formally declared interest.
Project Liberty, an organisation founded by billionaire Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and its partners, including “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, have made a formal bid to acquire the U.S. assets of the platform.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.