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A panel of three federal judges unanimously ruled against TikTok’s free-speech lawsuit that hoped to overturn the divest-or-ban bill… putting TikTok on a path of being shut down in the US on January 19th on national security concerns.
Why It Hits: The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed in April, makes it illegal for app stores to host platforms owned by foreign adversaries that allow Americans to “create an account or profile to generate, share, and view text, images, videos, real-time communications, or similar content” — a law designed with TikTok in the crosshairs. The ruling suggests that speech itself, not platforms for speech, are what’s protected by the Constitution.
Behind the Ruling: TikTok, which is used by 170 million Americans, is running out of options to stay in the US.
- The judges agreed that the law would keep China from allegedly pushing propaganda on the platform (which Beijing can do under its national intelligence law) and accessing data on Americans.
- The ruling makes it difficult for the next administration to simply reverse the ban (as President-Elect Donald Trump has suggested he might), so TikTok plans to appeal.
- That leaves the Supreme Court potentially having the final say… if they decide to take up the case. Even then, it’s unlikely that it’ll rule differently.
- If the Supreme Court doesn’t take up the case, app stores will need to remove TikTok by January 19th or face hefty fines, and TikTok will need to wind down its US operations if it decides that it still doesn’t want to sell to a US company.
The Future: All eyes are on what the Trump administration will do when it assumes power on January 20th. The campaign to remove the platform actually started under Trump’s first administration, but he’s since flip-flopped on the issue — probably only because 32% of Americans support a ban, per Pew Research Center. Trump could instruct his Justice Department not to enforce the law (which could be a legal headache), but it may be likelier that he’ll attempt to broker a deal to score a political win.
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