SCOTUS Upholds TikTok Divestiture Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 17 unanimously upheld a law requiring China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban on the popular social media application in the U.S.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The high court affirmed last month's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2412060035), saying the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is justified by the government's security concerns about China’s efforts to amass data on Americans. TikTok and a group of its U.S. users had argued that the law violates their First Amendment freedom of speech protections.
While TikTok “offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community” to its 170 million users in the U.S., “Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the Supreme Court wrote. “For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
Congressional supporters of the TikTok law, which President Joe Biden signed in April (see 2404240043), welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. “This is a sober, but important, step toward safeguarding our national security,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and two Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairs said in a joint statement. “ByteDance still has the choice to fully divest, so TikTok could continue operating in the United States if they so choose.”
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., criticized the Supreme Court’s decision, saying in an emailed statement that a TikTok ban, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 19, "would be profoundly harmful -- from creators losing their livelihoods, to communities losing an essential communication tool during emergencies such as the Los Angeles wildfires.” Markey reiterated his call for Biden to exercise an option in the TikTok law to give ByteDance 90 more days to divest the app (see 2412230077).
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that while the Biden administration continues to favor the divestiture requirement, the incoming Trump administration will determine how the TikTok law is carried out. "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," she said.
President-elect Donald Trump, who used to favor a ban but now opposes one, said he is mulling his response to the Supreme Court ruling. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Stay tuned!” Trump said in a separate Truth Social post that TikTok was one of the topics he discussed in a recent call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a video posted after the ruling, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.” He told viewers there is “more to come.”