Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Nears. US App Unlikely to Disappear
In April 2024, the TikTok Supreme Court case spotlighted a debate over a Biden-signed law that could ban the app in the US by early 2025.
The deliberation of the Supreme Court on TikTok weighs a national security concern against digital sovereignty and free speech. The ban is a card the Biden administration played to compel ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban by January 19, potentially disrupting 170 million American users and restructuring legislative regulations against foreign tech companies and international relations.
So, Did the supreme court ban TikTok? Well, not yet, but it appears that the Supreme court decision on TikTok is very much headed in that direction, and so is Biden during his last week in power before handing the reins of power to President Donald Trump.
Uncertainty for TikTok’s Users
Justices questioned lawyers on Friday about the First Amendment’s implications in the Supreme Court’s TikTok ruling, echoing concerns raised back in November. Noel Francisco, TikTok’s lawyer, seemed uncertainon the TikTok supreme court case and how the ban would play out, saying, “On January 19, as I understand it, we shut down.”
First, the Supreme Court addresses TikTok by pulling Google and Apple app stores to prevent new downloads and updates for existing users. Eventually, the app would stop working due to unpatched bugs or security holes. Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, cautioned that this could leave users prone to hacking.
TikTok Supreme Court may also state the app be blocked by the government through internet service providers, but that is more cumbersome because of the number of service providers.
Ways Around the Supreme Court Banning TikTok
Even if the ban does kick in due to the TikTok case in supreme court, there might be ways around it. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, might allow access by disguising where users are located. That has happened in countries like Turkey, where social media platforms have been restricted for years.
A probable sale of TikTok’s US assets could lift the ban, but to that end, ByteDance made it abundently clear that it will resist the selling but may reconsider under pressure. Investor groups, including that led by billionaire Frank McCourt, vocalized his interest in purchasing the video-sharing platforms’ American operations.
The issue of TikTok is further muddled by President-elect Donald Trump, who promised to save TikTok, only to then file a brief urging the Supreme Court to grant a stay of enforcement against the ban that was set to take effect just more than two weeks before he would take office. Lawyers say that even with such an assurance from Trump, companies like Apple and Google would not want to risk non-compliance.
But liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor answered, “Whatever the new president does, doesn’t change that reality for these companies.”
The expected Supreme Court ruling could reboot the digital environment that 170 million American users rely on for the wildly popular short videos, with far-reaching consequences on debates involving big tech regulation and national security.
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