Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Sell-or-Ban Law

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2025 – The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law Friday requiring TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations by Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, or face an outright ban.

In its opinion in TikTok v. Garland, the Court rejected TikTok’s First Amendment challenge. While the Court assumed the action could burden expressive activity and applied heightened scrutiny, it upheld the ban as constitutional, concluding that the compelling national security interest in countering China's data collection and influence justified the minimal restrictions imposed on free expression.

The TikTok ban stems from a law President Joe Biden signed last year, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law targets foreign-owned platforms deemed threats to U.S. national security, although ByteDance’s TikTok is the only app currently subject to its provisions.

TikTok Ban Looms: What Does It Mean?

The ban, which would take effect January 19, requires Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok or face removal from app stores.

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