The Supreme Court upheld a law that would ban TikTok on January 19 unless the social media platform is sold.
The decision read, “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate the petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
“Petitioners do not dispute that the Government has an important and well-grounded interest in preventing China from collecting the personal data of tens of millions of U. S. TikTok users,” the court opinion says. “Nor could they. The platform collects extensive personal information from and about its users.”
“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 adds. “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.”
President-elect Donald Trump previously urged the Supreme Court to prevent the ban, submitting an amicus brief to the Court that said, “On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the United States’ national security, foreign policy, and other vital executive functions. This case presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other.”
“As the incoming Chief Executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest in and responsibility for those national-security and foreign-policy questions, and he is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means,” the brief said.
Trump had “no position on the merits of the dispute,” but called for “the Court to stay the statute’s effective date to allow his incoming Administration to pursue a negotiated resolution that could prevent a nationwide shutdown of TikTok, thus preserving the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans, while also addressing the government’s national security concerns.”
