Final days for TikTok? App faces ban in US as Jan. 19 deadline looms
US Supreme Court that could determine its future in the United States. Unless ByteDance sells TikTok to a US-based company by January 19, the platform could be removed from app stores and blocked by internet providers, as mandated by a bipartisan law signed by President Joe Biden in 2023.
ET Year-end Special Reads
Buying a home in 2025? Here's how property market can shape up
18 top stock picks for 2025 from 6 leading brokers
Five big bangs that shook the corporate world in 2024
The legislation stems from growing concerns over national security, with lawmakers asserting that TikTok’s parent company could share sensitive user data with the Chinese government or use the platform to spread disinformation. ByteDance, however, has categorically denied these allegations, stating in an April 2023 statement, “ByteDance does not have any plans to sell TikTok,” calling the sale rumours «untrue.»
Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Free Speech and Security
TikTok has challenged the law, filing an emergency motion claiming it violates the First Amendment and could result in «substantial losses.» The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on January 10. The central legal question revolves around whether the government’s concerns about national security justify overriding the First Amendment’s protections for free speech.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, has supported the law, stating, «The right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment does not apply to a corporate agent of the
