Illustration showing the American and Chinese flags, the TikTok logo and a judge's gavel
The Supreme Court of the United States on Friday rejected the appeal filed by the video sharing platform TikTok against a federal law providing for its ban on American soil.
The law passed last April by Congress requires TikTok to break with its parent company, the Chinese giant ByteDance, under penalty of ban.
According to the Department of Justice, TikTok poses a serious threat to national security because of its access to the personal data of many Americans, potentially exploitable by the Chinese government.
TikTok denies having shared or wants to share the data of American users and denounces an unconstitutional law violating the right to freedom of expression.
In their opinion, the justices unanimously decided that the law did not violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution protecting freedom of expression.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok provides a distinctive and expansive means of expression, means of engagement, and a source of community. But Congress has determined that divestment is necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and its relationship with a foreign adversary,” the Court said in its opinion.
Once the law is approved, the ban on TikTok in the United States will take effect on Sunday, the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration.
-In a statement, the White House said TikTok should remain accessible to Americans “but simply under U.S. ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in crafting this law.”
Given the timing of the Supreme Court's decision, “steps to implement the law will need to be taken by the next administration,” the statement added.
During an interview Friday on CNN, President-elect Donald Trump confirmed that the decision regarding TikTok would be up to him, without specifying what he would decide.
Donald Trump tried in vain to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, before reversing his decision during his presidential campaign ahead of the November 5 election, insisting that he would oppose the ban on TikTok.
The impact of this social network with controversial algorithms is also closely scrutinized by the European authorities who have opened an investigation against it, accusing it of electoral interference, notably during the presidential election organized in Romania last November.
(Written by Andrew Chung with Doina Chiacu; French version Sophie Louet and Blandine Hénault)
