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TikTok Ban: US Supreme Court Upholds Law, Shutdown Deadline Looms

TikTok, the popular video app, said it will have to shut down in the US on Sunday, January 19, 2025, unless President Joe Biden’s administration intervenes immediately to assure the company it will not face actions for violating the looming ban.

This comes after the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that bans TikTok in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by this Sunday, reported CNN.

Supreme Court Decision

The US Supreme Court unanimously upheld the TikTok ban law. This means that the app must find an approved buyer for its US version or face removal from app stores and web hosting services.

The decision came after warnings from the Biden administration that the app posed a “grave” national security threat due to its links to China. The court handed an unsigned opinion, stating that TikTok offers “a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community.”

However, “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,” it said.

A Call to Biden

After the Supreme Court upheld the law that bans TikTok in the US, the Biden administration said it would leave enforcement of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump, set to be inaugurated on Monday, January 20, 2025.

TikTok Ban: US Supreme Court Upholds Law, Shutdown Deadline Looms
US President Joe Biden

The CNN cited a White House official saying that the Biden administration would not penalize service providers like Google and Apple for hosting TikTok on Sunday. However, TikTok said that this was not enough.

The company issued a statement on Friday evening, saying “The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans.”

It further added that “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”

Decision Up to Trump

President-elect Trump has suggested he will not enforce the ban, saying that his upcoming administration would consider a deal to sell TikTok to American buyers. “Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision,” Trump told CNN.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

He also revealed that he spoke with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, saying they had “a great talk about TikTok and a great talk about many other subjects.”

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Donald Trump

After the court ruling, TikTok CEO, Shou Chew, posted a video thanking Trump for his commitment to work with the app and keep it available in the US.

“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform — one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Chew said.

TikTok Ban in the US

In April 2024, Biden signed a law that bans the video-sharing app over concerns to its ties to the Chinese government. The law gives TikTok owner, ByteDance, a deadline of 19 January 2025 to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert a complete ban.

Under the law, mobile app stores, such as the ones operated by Apple and Google, and internet hosting services will be subject to major fines if they continue to offer TikTok to US users beyond the deadline. The fines could reach up to $5,000 for each user who continues to access the app, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The app will remain available for current users, but they will not be able to update it, making it unusable in the long term.

TikTok Ban in Other Countries

While the US will be the first nation to completely ban TikTok, several countries had already taken measures to ban the app on government devices in 2023 and 2024 over security concerns, according to Euro News.

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TikTok

By the end of 2024, Albania issued a year-long ban on TikTok over domestic issues related to violence and bullying. Moreover, Australia banned the app from all federal government-owned devices over security concerns in April 2024.

In March 2023, the UK announced an immediate ban of the app on government official devices. Also in March, Estonia banned TikTok from smartphones given by the state to public officials.

Furthermore, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the EU Council have all banned TikTok on staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns. The ban took effect in March 2023.

Other European countries took similar measures that ban the use of TikTok on government devices. These include France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Denmark. Canada also ordered TikTok in 2024 to stop its operations in the country due to foreign interference concerns.

Countries such as New Zealand, India and Taiwan banned TikTok from government devices over privacy and security concerns, while Pakistan and Afghanistan banned the app for promoting “immoral” content.

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