TikTok swept into the social media landscape with an enviable force. It seemed to totally capture the hearts and minds of the youngest generations among us with its addictive platform that offers you short-form video after short-form video. Even millennials are not immune to TikTok’s wiles. For some, influences and artists alike, TikTok has also been a lucrative place to grow a business and make a living. But now, the TikTok ban threatens to outlaw TikTok from the US. If the ban becomes an active law as planned, TikTok will be banned from the United States beginning on January 20. Currently, only the Supreme Court stands between the federal law being enacted and not. But what’s the state of the TikTok ban? Well, here’s the current State of the TikTok ban Union.
Quick Links:
- Latest Updates on the Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Deliberations
- The Current Overall State of Affairs Regarding a TikTok Shut Down
Latest Updates on the Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Deliberations
After its first day of deliberations, the Supreme Court appears to lean toward upholding the TikTok ban, but did not conclude discussions. TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco seemed optimistic, however, noting “This country has never taken a step of shutting down a speech platform, much less such an important speech platform. You don’t shut down a speech platform because you’re worried about speech that’s dangerous.”
The Chinese embassy meanwhile criticized the ban, noting in a statement, “The U.S. has never found evidence that TikTok threatens U.S. national security, but it has used state power and abused national security reasons to unreasonably suppress it, which is not fair or just at all. The U.S. should truly respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop unreasonably suppressing companies from other countries, and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for companies from all countries to invest and operate in the U.S.”
The Current Overall State of Affairs Regarding a TikTok Shut Down
On January 10th, the Supreme Court will hear opening arguments in the case of the TikTok ban. There’s a lot of legalese involved, but in short, TikTok and ByteDance are arguing that the TikTok ban/shutdown is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million users. While some Supreme Court justices acknowledge the truth of this, the opposition argument is that TikTok does not have to shut down, it simply needs to divest of its owner ByteDance. ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok is a concern to the United States government, which believes the company is using TikTok to spy on Americans for the Chinese government, as well as to spread Chinese-centric propaganda. At this point in time, the court seemingly leans toward upholding the law and allowing the TikTok ban to take effect.
The Supreme Court has not yet arrived at a final decision, but it feels expected that they will move quickly to achieve one. We’ll be sure to update this piece as new information becomes accessible. You can listen to the arguments on YouTube via PBS NewsHour.
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed the TikTok divest-or-ban bill into law, which also passed in Congress. If the Supreme Court does not strike down the TikTok ban, the law will go into effect on January 20. That means the use of TikTok will be illegal in the United States, and TikTok will no longer be available at the time.
