US Supreme Court Upholds Law Banning TikTok

Judges Affirm Earlier Ruling in Case That Pit Free Speech Rights Against Security Concerns

- 

WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on January 17 in its challenge to a federal law requiring the popular short-video app to be sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be banned in the US on January 19.

The justices ruled that the law, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress in 2024 and signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, did not violate the US Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgement of free speech.

The justices affirmed a lower court's decision that had upheld the measure after it was challenged by TikTok, ByteDance, and some of the app's users.

The Supreme Court acted speedily in the case, having held arguments on January 10, just nine days before the deadline set under the law.

The case pitted free speech rights against national security concerns in the age of social media.

TikTok is one of the most prominent social media platforms in the US and is used by about 270 million Americans - roughly half the country's population, including many young people. TikTok's powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users short videos tailored to their liking.