The future of social media giant TikTok in the US is hanging by a thread after a bombshell ruling.
On Friday, US time, the Supreme Court upheld a law supported by Democrats and Republicans that could lead to the platform being banned in the country on Sunday.
However, what this means for TikTok is still up in the air with incoming president Donald Trump – who was all in favour of the ban – now vague on how he will handle the issue.
TikTok has around 170 million American users and is one of the US’ largest social media platforms
In May, the US had demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance sell its American arm or face being removed from app stores.
Politicians said Beijing had too much access to the personal information of Americans and the app could be a “grave” national security threat.
But ByteDance had pushed back saying it could shut down the site in the US the day the law takes affect in just two day’s time.
That law, officially called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, will now come to pass.
At the very least, the ruling theoretically means TikTok will be barred from app stores.
Biden passes ban buck
US President Joe Biden had supported the law. But he has now said he won’t enforce it on Sunday, his final full day he is in office.
“President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that that addresses the national security concerns,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement on Friday.
“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognises that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
Trump: ‘I’ll make TikTok decision’
Donald Trump had supported banning TikTok in years past but in recent months has signalled a change of heart.
In December, Mr Trump met TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago.
He also said he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping and thy had a “great talk about TikTok”.
Speaking to CNN on Friday, he had called for the law’s introduction to be delayed until he takes over the presidency on Monday.
“Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision.
“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do.”
Mr Trump also said he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping and they had a “great talk about TikTok”.
But in the Supreme Court’s ruling, the judges specifically cited Mr Trump’s previous TikTok misgivings.
“President Trump determined that TikTok raised particular concerns, noting that the platform ‘automatically captures vast swathes of information from its users’ and is susceptible to being used to further the interests of the Chinese government,” the court wrote.
TikTok sues
The passing of the May law led ByteDance and several users of the app to use claiming nay removal of TikTok would amount to a suppression of free speech.
A lower court upheld the ban but the Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok’s emergency request to either block or pause implementation of the law The Biden administration told the Supreme Court China could weaponise the app, including by manipulating its algorithm to prioritise certain content or by ordering parent company ByteDance to turn over vast amounts of user data compiled by TikTok on US users.
But TikTok’s lawyers said the platform and its owners should be entitled to the highest level of free speech protections under the US Constitution.
ByteDance argued it was not possible to divorce TikTok US from its Chinese parent due to the amount of back end source code and intellectual property that was shared.
The Supreme Court appeared to be sceptical to ByteDance’s arguments, reported Fox News.
“Exactly what is TikTok’s speech here?” Justice Clarence Thomas asked.
Attorneys for the president-elect also filed a brief with the Supreme Court last month, asking justices to delay any decision in the case until after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The brief did not signal how Trump might act, but cited his request for the court to pause the ban from taking effect until Trump’s inauguration.
