Supreme Court upholds law requiring TikTok to be sold or banned: Live updates

“There is no doubt that for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, engagement and source of community,” the decision said. “However, Congress has determined that the divestment is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.

Accepting the government’s arguments that China’s control of TikTok’s parent company poses a threat to the nation’s security, the court ruled that Congress was entitled to present its owners with the choice of selling it or letting it go dark.

The decision, delivered on an unusually abbreviated schedule, has few rivals in the annals of important First Amendment proposals and in the enormous practical impact it will have.

Although TikTok’s lawyer told judges last week that the app would “go dark” if it lost the case, it was not clear how quickly a shutdown would proceed. At a minimum, it seemed likely that app store operators like Apple and Google would stop distributing and updating the TikTok app for fear of significant penalties imposed by the law.

The decision came days before the potential ban was set to take effect and before President-elect Donald J. Trump was to be inaugurated.

Mr. Trump had asked the justices to temporarily block the law so he could address the case after he took office.

Recently, Mr. Trump had investigated the possibility of an executive order that could allow TikTok to continue operating despite the pending ban. It remains unclear whether the tactic would withstand legal challenges or even how such an order would work.

The law allows the president to extend the deadline by 90 days in limited circumstances, but the provision does not appear to apply, as it requires him to certify to Congress that significant progress has been made toward a sale supported by ” relevant binding legal agreements”.

Mr. Trump’s backing of the app was a remarkable turnaround from just four years ago, when he vowed to block TikTok and tried to force its sale. That report will be shown on Monday at the inauguration, where TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to be a guest, invited to sit in a position of honor on the podium where former presidents, family members and other important guests traditionally gather.

When the case was argued on Friday, the Biden administration’s lawyer told the court that any ban did not have to be permanent and that TikTok could start operating again if it was sold after the deadline.

In court papers, however, the company said it would suffer serious damage from even a brief pause in operations.

“If the platform becomes unavailable on January 19,” its brief said, “TikTok will lose its users and creators in the United States. Many current and potential users and creators—both domestically and abroad—will migrate to competing platforms, and many will never return even if the ban is later lifted.”

President Biden signed the law last spring after it passed with broad bipartisan support. Lawmakers said the app’s ownership represented a risk because the Chinese government’s oversight of private companies allowed it to obtain sensitive information about Americans or to spread covert disinformation or propaganda

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in early December declined a challenge to the law brought by TikTok, its parent company, ByteDance, and several US users, ruling that the measure was justified by national security concerns. The judges differed somewhat in their reasoning, but were united in accepting the government’s arguments that the Chinese government could use the site to harm national security.