The United States Supreme Court has upheld an appeal that could result to Tiktok ban from U.S app stores, effective from January 19, 2025 unless its Chinese parent, ByteDance divests from it.
The social media platform with over 170 million users, is facing the ban after rising allegations that it has been posing a national security threat to Americans.
It is since feared to be used as a vessel by the Chinese to monitor and control politics in their country.
The nine justices concurred with claims that data collection and analysis is a common practice in the digital age, and the government’s national security concerns might be true, considering the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, which justifies the skepticism of Tiktok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control.
The incoming 47th U.S president, Donald Trump who will be sworn in on Monday, January 20, promised to do everything possible to save the app, but it might prove difficult since president Joe Biden who first proposed the ban has refused to enforce it.
“Banning Tiktok was one of the dumbest things we’ve seen the U.S government do, and we’ve seen a lot,” Representative Nancy Mace said.
As a result, Tiktok is expected to go dark on Sunday.
“President Biden’s position on Tiktok is that it should be available in the U.S. but under American ownership,” Karine Jean Pierre, the White House press secretary said in his statement.
The ruling from the Supreme court exclusively mentioned their drive to ban the app in a statement they released:
“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. But congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well supported national security concern regarding Tiktok’s data collection practices and relation with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” read the statement.
This was met by harsh reactions from the livid Americans.
“The U.S. Government does not support free speech. We live under a tyrannical capitalist oligarchy that uses fear, division, and propaganda to control its people,” Power to the people wrote on their X platform.
“Only in America do we ban Tiktok before AR-15s,” Irishrygirl added.
Seemingly, the only hope for the Chinese officials and the Americans against the ban is for the Chinese to divest and completely give ownership and control to a Western buyer, which is still unclear.
If they will be willing to give away that power, and also, the Western buyer who Americans have in mind, Elon Musk has not reacted to any of this, but somehow, they still believe Trump will convince him to buy it, because he fully supported Trump’s re-election.
Reportedly, Tiktok CEO, Shou Zi Chew sent a message to Donald Trump about keeping Tiktok available in the U.S. and appreciated him for working to find a solution
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