WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning beginning Sunday unless it's sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.
A sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users' phones once the law takes effect, new users won't be able to download it and updates won't be available. That will eventually render the app unworkable, the Justice Department has said in court filings.
The decision came against the backdrop of unusual political agitation by President-elect Donald Trump, who vowed that he could negotiate a solution, and the administration of President Joe Biden, which has signaled it won't enforce the law 鈥� which was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support 鈥� beginning Sunday, his final full day in office.
鈥淭ikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,鈥� White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, noting that actions to implement the law will fall to the new administration.
Trump, mindful of TikTok鈥檚 popularity, and his own 14.7 million followers on the app, finds himself on the opposite side of the argument from prominent Senate Republicans who fault TikTok鈥檚 Chinese owner for not finding a buyer before now. Trump said in a Truth Social post shortly before the decision was issued that TikTok was among the topics in .
It鈥檚 unclear what options are open to Trump, a Republican, once he is sworn in as president on Monday. The law allowed for a 90-day pause in the restrictions on the app if there had been progress toward a sale before it took effect. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who defended the law at the Supreme Court for the Democratic Biden administration, told the justices last week that it's uncertain whether the prospect of a sale once the law is in effect could trigger a 90-day respite for TikTok.
The decision explores the intersection of the First Amendment and national security concerns in the fast-changing realm of social media, and the justices acknowledged in their opinion that the new terrain has been difficult to navigate given they know relatively little about it.
鈥淐ongress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok鈥檚 data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,鈥� the court said in an unsigned opinion, adding that the law 鈥渄oes not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights.鈥�
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch filed short separate opinions noting some reservations about the court's decision but going along with the outcome.
鈥淲ithout doubt, the remedy Congress and the President chose here is dramatic,鈥� Gorsuch wrote. Still, he said he was persuaded by the argument that China could get access to 鈥渧ast troves of personal information about tens of millions of Americans.鈥�
Some digital rights groups slammed the court鈥檚 ruling shortly after it was released.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 unprecedented decision upholding the TikTok ban harms the free expression of hundreds of millions of TikTok users in this country and around the world,鈥� said Kate Ruane, a director at the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology, which has supported TikTok鈥檚 challenge to the federal law.
Content creators who opposed the law also worried about the effect on their business if TikTok shuts down. 鈥淚鈥檓 very, very concerned about what鈥檚 going to happen over the next couple weeks,鈥� said Desiree Hill, owner of Crown鈥檚 Corner mechanic shop in Conyers, Georgia. 鈥淎nd very scared about the decrease that I鈥檓 going to have in reaching customers and worried I鈥檓 going to potentially lose my business in the next six months.鈥�
At arguments, the justices were told by a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese technology company that is its parent, how difficult it would be to consummate a deal, especially since Chinese law restricts the sale of the proprietary algorithm that has made the social media platform wildly successful.
The app allows users to watch in about half an hour because some are only a few seconds long, according to a lawsuit filed last year by Kentucky complaining that TikTok is designed to be addictive and harms kids' mental health. Similar suits were filed by more than . TikTok has called the claims inaccurate.
The dispute over TikTok's ties to China has come to embody the geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing.
鈥淏yteDance and its Chinese Communist masters had nine months to sell TikTok before the Sunday deadline,鈥� Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote on X. 鈥淭he very fact that Communist China refuses to permit its sale reveals exactly what TikTok is: a communist spy app. The Supreme Court correctly rejected TikTok鈥檚 lies and propaganda masquerading as legal arguments.鈥�
The U.S. has said it鈥檚 concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including , that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that鈥檚 difficult to detect.
TikTok points out the U.S. has not presented evidence that China has attempted to manipulate content on its U.S. platform or gather American user data through TikTok.
Biden signed the legislation it into law in April. The law was the culmination of over TikTok, which the government .
TikTok, which sued the government last year over the law, has long denied it could be used as a tool of Beijing. A three-judge panel made up of two Republican appointees and a Democratic appointee unanimously upheld the law in December, prompting TikTok鈥檚 quick appeal to the Supreme Court.
Without a sale to an approved buyer, the law bars app stores operated by Apple, Google and others from offering TikTok beginning on Sunday. Internet hosting services also will be prohibited from hosting TikTok.
ByteDance has said it won鈥檛 sell. But some investors have been eyeing it, including Trump鈥檚 and billionaire businessman . McCourt鈥檚 Project Liberty initiative has said it and its unnamed partners have presented a proposal to ByteDance to acquire TikTok鈥檚 U.S. assets. The consortium, which includes 鈥淪hark Tank鈥� host Kevin O鈥橪eary, did not disclose the financial terms of the offer.
McCourt, in a statement following the ruling, said his group was 鈥渞eady to work with the company and President Trump to complete a deal."
Prelogar told the justices last week that having the law take effect 鈥渕ight be just the jolt鈥� ByteDance needs to reconsider its position.
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Associated Press writers Haleluya Hadero, Mae Anderson and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report. Hadero reported from South Bend, Indiana, and Anderson from New York.
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Mark Sherman, The Associated Press
