US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

Video-sharing platform TikTok will ‘go dark’ in the United States at midnight on Sunday 19 January after the Supreme Court upheld a nationwide ban on the Chinese-owned social media on national security and data privacy and protection grounds.

In a unanimous decision, the conservative majority court sided with the lower courts, outgoing president Joe Biden, and both houses of Congress, which passed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act last year with broad support from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

The law requires TikTok’s parent ByteDance to either divest the service altogether or be cut off from US app stores and hosting services this weekend, with the likes of Apple and Google facing significant fines if they do not comply.

In its unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court said: “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 reported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.  For the foregoing Per Curiam reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”

Craig Singleton, senior China fellow and senior director of the China programme at Washington DC-based thinktank the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the nine-nil decision upholding the law’s constitutionality validated the security risks posed by Chinese-owned social media apps.

“ByteDance was afforded due process in our courts – something Chinese companies would never extend to US firms. This is about reciprocity, fairness, and protecting American interests,” he said.

“China is adapting in real-time to the ruling. Prior to today's verdict, Beijing began urging TikTok users to migrate to other Chinese-owned apps, like Lemon8 and Little Red Book. This underscores the risks of a whack-a-mole approach and highlights the need for constant vigilance. Beijing isn’t just building apps; it’s building a discourse power ecosystem to shape global narratives and influence societies.”

Although TikTok has been banned in other countries, most jurisdictions, including the UK, have confined their restrictions to government-owned devices. The US’ ban marks the first time that a service as widely used as TikTok – which boasts 170 million users in the country and many times that number globally – has been banned outright in such a significant market.

From a business perspective, the TikTok ban will be most keenly felt by smaller businesses, creators and influencers in the US, but organisations located in the UK, Europe, and other countries will also be affected by the sudden loss of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers.