Trump set to save TikTok despite court ordering ban

More than 170 million US citizens could lose access to the widely popular social media platform TikTok beginning tomorrow after the Supreme Court upheld the law that forces the platform to divest from its parent company or be banned.

- ARIANA BAIO

“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. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ first amendment rights,” the justices said in an unsigned opinion yesterday.

The fate of TikTok now lies with president-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on Monday. Mr Trump, who once tried to ban TikTok and advocated for its removal, has turned into an unexpected saviour – promising to “save” it.

The Biden administration has said it will not enforce the ban, according to reports. That will leave its fate to Mr Trump or app stores.

Mr Trump has not revealed what he will do with TikTok but said he will make a decision. “It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” Mr Trump told CNN anchor Pamela Brown. “Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision.”

Mr Trump could try to work out a deal with TikTok and ByteDance or could lobby Congress to repeal or amend the legislation to make sure the platform can exist in the US. Alhough, it’s unclear how feasible that is.

It took the court just one week to decide the case – one of the fastest decision timelines in recent terms. Justices wanted to intervene before the ban took place on 19 January. They scheduled oral arguments just three weeks after agreeing to take up the case.