The Court did not reverse the decision, even though it accepted that for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, a means of engagement, and a source of community.
”Congress has determined that divestment is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the Court wrote.
The court added that “we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” as the case pitted free speech rights against national security concerns in the age of social media.
TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms in the United States, used by about 170 million Americans, about half of the country’s population, including many young people.
TikTok’s powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds individual users with short videos tailored to their tastes. The platform features a vast collection of user-submitted videos, often less than a minute in length, that can be viewed with a smartphone app.
China and the United States are economic and geopolitical rivals, and Chinese ownership of TikTok has raised concerns among American leaders for years. The fight over TikTok has unfolded during the final days of Biden’s presidency – Republican Donald Trump succeeds him on Monday – and at a time of growing trade tension between the world’s two largest economies.
The Biden administration has signaled that TikTok could continue to operate without any modifications if it is freed from China’s control. However, neither ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, nor the Chinese government have accepted this measure.
TikTok plans to shut down the app’s operations in the United States on Sunday, barring a last-minute reprieve, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
Therefore, from that day on, third-party internet service providers, such as Apple and Google, will have to remove TikTok from their respective app stores to prevent it from being downloaded or updated. If they do not do so, they could be penalized by the government.
With information from Reuters
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