The United States Supreme Court has upheld legislation that mandates a nationwide ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership of the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it violated the free speech rights of its more than 170 million U.S. users. However, the Court rejected this argument, leaving the company with an ultimatum: either sell the U.S. version of the app to an approved buyer or face removal from app stores and loss of web hosting services.
In the meantime, both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration are reportedly considering options for a potential reprieve. U.S. officials have labeled TikTok a national security threat, citing concerns over its alleged ties to the Chinese government. ByteDance has consistently denied sharing user data with Beijing.
Passed last year with bipartisan support, the legislation sets a January 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold to a neutral party. If the sale does not occur, Apple and Google will stop offering the app to new users and cease providing security updates, a move that could severely cripple the platform.
Despite the looming deadline, ByteDance has maintained it will not sell TikTok.
