Confusion surrounding the fate of TikTok in the United States

(Washington) The US Supreme Court refused on Friday to suspend a law threatening the social network TikTok with a ban, but future President Donald Trump asked for time to decide whether to apply it or not.

The decision of the highest American court came just over 36 hours before the limit imposed by Congress on TikTok’s parent company, the Chinese group ByteDance, to sell its subsidiary.

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers an important mode of expression, interaction and belonging to a community,” estimated the nine senior magistrates.

“But Congress determined that its divestment was necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns,” they observed.

American elected officials adopted, in April 2024, this law intended to prevent Chinese authorities from accessing the data of users in the United States of the social network or from attempting to manipulate American opinion.

“The size of TikTok and its vulnerability to the control of a foreign adversary, combined with the vast range of data collected by the platform, justify differential treatment,” insisted the judges of the Supreme Court.

Several Republican figures welcomed the decision, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who called it a “victory for protection [des données personnelles] and the security of the American people.”

The law theoretically requires internet providers and application stores to block downloads and updates from midnight on Sunday.

The main ones, contacted by AFP, did not respond.

The US Department of Justice announced on Friday that the application of the law would be spread over time, which raises the question of its very short-term effects.

“Need time”

The White House estimated that “law enforcement [devait] return to the next government, which will take office on Monday,” according to a statement from spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

Donald Trump has, on several occasions, said he is in favor of the application being preserved in the United States, and even pleaded to this effect to the Supreme Court, in vain.

Friday, he stressed that the Court’s decision must be “respected”, but said he “needs time” to rule on the fate of the social network, promising a decision “in the fairly near future”.

The real estate developer discussed the fate of TikTok during a telephone conversation Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A sign of Donald Trump’s openness towards young people’s favorite social network, the boss of TikTok, Shou Chew, is one of the guests of honor for his inauguration ceremony on Monday.

“I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that allows TikTok to remain available in the United States,” Shou Chew said in a video posted to the platform on Friday.

“We are going to put in place measures to prevent TikTok from turning off the lights” in the United States, assured Thursday, on the Fox News channel, the Republican elected to the House of Representatives Mike Waltz, appointed Security Advisor national by Donald Trump.

“This will give President Trump time to keep TikTok in business,” explained the Florida elected official

“It is clear that more time is needed to be able to find an American buyer for TikTok,” added influential Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

ByteDance has so far systematically refused to sell TikTok, even if several American investors have positioned themselves, first and foremost businessman Frank McCourt, ready to put $20 billion on the table.

“Content creators on TikTok are preparing for a possible ban, in a context of great uncertainty,” explains Courtney Spritzer, boss of the digital marketing agency Socialfly, specializing in social networks.

As for advertisers, “some are betting on an extinction (of the platform), while others are more optimistic and think that it will continue after Sunday,” she added.

The prospect of a possible disappearance of TikTok agitated the internet, the three most downloaded applications on the Apple store being three video platforms, namely the Chinese Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, another subsidiary of ByteDance, and the American Clapper. TikTok itself was featured in the top 10.