SÃO PAULO, SP – The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal made by the Chinese company ByteDance and upheld the law that imposes the interruption of TikTok services or the sale of operations in the country from this Sunday (19).
According to the Reuters news agency, the company is expected to take TikTok offline in the North American territory over the weekend and leave its 170 million users without the option to use it.
Legislation passed in April last year bans only new downloads of TikTok from Apple or Google’s app stores, while existing users could continue to use it for some time.
Under TikTok’s plan, people who try to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, according to Reuters.
The law that was upheld by the Supreme Court forces ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a nationwide ban by Sunday, the eve of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The justices ruled that the law, passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress, does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government restriction of free speech.
The Supreme Court acted quickly in the case, holding hearings on January 10, just nine days before the deadline set by law. The case pitted free speech rights against national security concerns in the age of social media.
Unless a buyer is found and the company is spun off within the next two days, the law requires the video app to be removed from Apple and Google’s app stores.
However, US media reported on Thursday (16) that US President Joe Biden will not enforce any bans during his final days in office.
Trump promised to “save” the app when he takes office, without providing further details. Following the Supreme Court’s announcement, the president-elect posted that he will make a decision on TikTok’s fate in the “not too distant future.”
“The Supreme Court’s decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I need to have time to analyze the situation,” Trump said on his social network Truth Social.
Additionally, Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the decision. “The connection was very good for both China and the USA. I hope we solve many problems together and start immediately. We discussed trade balance, fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics,” Trump wrote on his social network.
Authorities in Beijing are reportedly discussing using X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk as an intermediary in a potential sale of the app’s U.S. operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Officially, TikTok denies it and treats the supposed negotiation as “pure fiction”.
The legislation was prompted by concerns that the video platform, which has exploded in popularity among teenagers, could be used by Beijing for espionage or to spread propaganda.
The social media app sought to overturn the law by arguing that it was unconstitutional and that it violated First Amendment protections for free speech. However, the appeal was denied this Friday.
O PODER DO TIKTOK
TikTok’s powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users with videos tailored to their tastes. The platform presents a vast collection of productions, generally less than a minute long, which can be viewed using a smartphone app or in internet browsers.
About a third of U.S. adults say they use TikTok, and that number jumps to 59% among people under 30, according to Pew Research.
The app gave rise to a new crop of celebrities and boosted books, music and films. The app has also increasingly become a news source, helping to shape the conversation around the Israel-Hamas war and last year’s US presidential election.
Therefore, the application has become one of the most sought after products for advertising for Generation Z. According to the Financial Times, TikTok receives between US$15 billion and US$20 billion (R$90.73 billion to R$120, 97 billion) of advertising revenue per year, in addition to more than 170 million users. The publication pointed out that Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and YouTube should benefit from TikTok’s departure in the US.
China and the United States are economic and geopolitical rivals, and the fact that TikTok is Chinese-owned has raised concerns among American leaders.
The dispute over TikTok unfolded during the final days of the Biden administration and at a time of rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The Biden administration has said the law aims to combat control of the app by a foreign adversary, not constitutionally protected speech, and that TikTok could continue operating as is if it is sold by its Chinese controllers.
During arguments in the case, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Prelogar said the Chinese government’s control of TikTok poses a “grave threat” to U.S. national security, with China seeking to accumulate large amounts of sensitive data about Americans. and engage in covert influence operations.
Prelogar argued that China forces companies like ByteDance to secretly hand over data about social media users and comply with Chinese government directives.
TikTok’s immense data set, Prelogar added, represents a powerful tool that could be used by the Chinese government for harassment, recruitment and espionage, and that China “could weaponize TikTok at any time to harm the United States.”
Trump opposes the ban, in a reversal of stance from his first term, when he sought to ban TikTok. Trump said he has “a special affection for TikTok,” opining that the app helped him with young voters in the 2024 election.
In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to suspend the law to give his new administration “the opportunity to seek a political resolution of the issues at hand in the case.” But even though Trump promised to “save” TikTok, many of his Republican allies supported the ban.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s new national security adviser, said Thursday that the new administration will keep TikTok active in the United States if there is a workable deal. Waltz indicated that the Republican administration “will take steps to prevent TikTok from being left in the dark” and cited a provision in the law that allows for a 90-day extension if there is “significant progress” toward a sale.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that TikTok should be given more time to find a North American buyer and that he would work with the Trump administration “to keep TikTok alive while protecting our national security.”
TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday and will be seated among other high-profile guests.
