The judges determined that the Chinese social media platform poses a national security threat.
The law enables a ban on TikTok if its owner remains the Chinese company ByteDance. The Supreme Court concluded that such a ban does not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. All judges supported the decision.
In the spring of 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives classified TikTok as a national security threat, as the Chinese government could compel the platform’s owners to share data from 170 million American users. President Joe Biden also agreed with this assessment.
ByteDance attempted to challenge the law in court, arguing that it violates constitutional rights to free speech. The law will take effect on January 19. However, it remains unclear how it will be implemented, as there have been no prior instances of blocking major social media platforms in the U.S.
