The Supreme Court of the United States ruled unanimously that banning TikTok does not violate the First Amendment. The popular app could face a ban in the US as early as Sunday. In his final days in office, President Joe Biden is working to prevent the ban from taking effect.
On Friday, all nine SCOTUS justices agreed with the opinion, “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate the petitioners’ First Amendment rights.” The decision is a blow to TikTok that was arguing banning the platform was a violation of Freedom of Speech.
Following the ruling, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) explained that banning TikTok is censorship. “When tik-tok goes dark, please remember I voted against the so-called tik-tok ban because the legislation was overly broad and sets a dangerous precedent for censorship,” he posted on X.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) concurred, explaining, “Millions of Americans express themselves on TikTok on a daily basis, and it’s just wrong for the government to ban it.” 170 million Americans use TikTok.
In March, Biden signed a bill that ordered TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its shares from the company within six months or face an effective ban in the US. The deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok is Sunday.
Most of the public debate over the bill surrounds the claims that Beijing could use the data it obtains from TikTok against the US. However, Congress only passed the bill after users shared overwhelming pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli content about Tel Aviv’s onslaught in Gaza.
“It was slow going until Oct. 7. The attack that day in Israel by Hamas and the ensuing conflict in Gaza became a turning point in the push against TikTok,” Jacob Helberg, a member of a congressional research and advisory panel called the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, explained. “People who historically hadn’t taken a position on TikTok became concerned with how Israel was portrayed in the videos and what they saw as an increase in antisemitic content posted to the app.”
In the runup to the deadline, the Biden administration has been “exploring options” to not enforce the ban that comes into effect on the last full day of Biden’s Presidency. In response to the ruling White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would leave the decision to President-elect Donald Trump.
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the president’s desk: TikTok 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,” she said. “Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
Trump posted on Truth Social that he would address the issue in his first days back in the White House. “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” he wrote.
On Friday, President-elect Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He described the call as “very good” and said they discussed a range of issues, including TikTok.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.
