What you need to know as ban threatens 1 week away

On January 14, 2025By Littum

The Supreme Court heard arguments for two and a half hours on Friday about whether TikTok can be banned in the United States in less than a week. By the end, the judges appeared poised to allow the US government to force TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell the company or go dark.

Last spring, President Joe Biden signed legislation in law that requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the popular social media platform or face a ban on national security grounds. The social media giant wants to delay enforcement of the law, scheduled for January 19, which it says violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government curtailment of free speech.

If the ban goes into effect on Sunday, Apple and Google would no longer be able to offer TikTok for downloads to new users, but existing users could still access the app. The US government and TikTok agree that the app would degrade and eventually become unusable over time because companies would not be able to offer support services.

President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn in on January 20 – just one day after the ban could be implemented. In late December, Trump urged the court to put an end to the January 19 deadline to give his incoming administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the issues in the case.”

What will the SCOTUS decision decide?

If SCOTUS upholds the legislation, ByteDance has until Sunday to divest the US operations of TikTok.

During Friday’s hearing, Justice Samuel Alito asked whether the court could temporarily block the law or administratively suspend the law.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Prelogar, who argued the Biden administration’s defense of the law, advised against a temporary block unless TikTok was likely to win based on its First Amendment claim of a right to distribute its content. As for an administrative stay, Prelogar said she would defer to the judges on whether they have enough time to decide the case.

When will SCOTUS make its decision?

SCOTUS could release its decision at any time. The court does not have to release a decision by a specific date.

How would the TikTok ban affect users?

If ByteDance does not sell TikTok by January 19, the platform will be banned in the United States. This means that it will be illegal for US internet hosting services and app stores to distribute TikTok.

TikTok users who already have the app downloaded on mobile devices will still have access to it, but they won’t be able to update the app, which is likely to become unusable over time. The TikTok website becomes unavailable through US-based internet hosting services.

Would there be a way around the TikTok ban?

How exactly the ban will be implemented is uncertain, but content creators are using the time until January 19 to educate other users about virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow online users to mask their locations. In theory, if a user used a VPN to set their location outside the US, the user could be able to access TikTok.

But there are a few cases where VPNs wouldn’t work. Dan York, a senior adviser to the Internet Society, said that popular VPNs could be blocked and that using a location outside the country would not work. Additionally, using a VPN can result in slower or unreliable connections, he said.

York also advised users to do thorough research before using VPNs, as there are malicious companies that might want to take advantage of users who want to use one for the first time.

Are there any interested buyers?

Yes. Project Liberty, an organization led by billionaire Frank McCourt, announced last week that it made a formal offer to ByteDance to buy TikTok’s US assets. Project Liberty President Tomicah Tillemann said in a statement that the organization would not disclose the bid amount.

McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced last month that Project Liberty had secured verbal commitments of up to 20 billion dollars for the purchase. “Shark Tank” host and investor Kevin O’Leary announced last week that he was joining Project Liberty on the buyout plan.

If Project Liberty were to successfully buy TikTok, it would only be the US assets, which do not include the algorithm, as China considers it its intellectual property.

Featuring: USA TODAY’s Maureen Groppe

Greta Cross is a national trends reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].