- According to a US law, the parent company Bytedance must separate from Tiktok by January 19, 2025.
- Tiktok objected to this. The US Supreme Court has now unanimously confirmed the law.
- However, the Biden government and future President Donald Trump have already signaled that Tiktok should receive a reprieve instead of having to close in the USA on Sunday.
The US authorities accuse Bytedance of misusing the app in the service of the Chinese government in order to spy on users and thus potentially exert influence. Tiktok rejects the allegations and has so far refused to separate from Bytedance.
The justices believe the national security risk posed by ties to China outweighs concerns about restricting speech on the app or its 170 million users in the United States.
Biden government wants to let Trump decide
The 270-day deadline for purchasing expires on January 19th. Theoretically, Tiktok will have to be removed from the American app stores of Apple and Google on this day and lose access to infrastructure. US companies that provide Tiktok with services will then face penalties by law.
Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the next US president on January 20, has asked the court for a delay. He argued that he could save the platform through negotiations while finding a solution to the US government’s security concerns.
Short assessment by SRF-USA correspondent Barbara Colpi
Open the box
Box zuklappen
The consequences of the ban are uncertain because Tiktok’s parent company, Bytedance, which is controlled by the Chinese government, still has until Sunday to divest from the US business. And if not and the law comes into force, then it will probably only be for 24 hours, because as of Monday Donald Trump will be president and he has already announced that he wants to save Tiktok and issue a corresponding decree on his first day in office.
On Friday evening it became known that the incumbent President Joe Biden wants to leave the implementation of the law on the change of ownership at Tiktok to his successor Donald Trump. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre referred to the deadline expiring on Sunday as justification.
The fate of the popular Tiktok platform is stirring emotions in the USA. The Supreme Court’s decision is eagerly awaited.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Illustration
What all of this means for the availability of Tiktok in the US in the coming days remains unclear. Biden can legally extend the deadline for Tiktok by three months. However, the prerequisite for this is that there are promising sales negotiations – and Tiktok and Bytedance have so far refused to even talk about a separation.
The US Department of Justice said on Friday that the implementation of the law would be “a process that takes place over time”. All of this leads to the interpretation that American companies could remain unpunished even if they keep Tiktok available. However, it is unclear whether the statements provide enough legal certainty for this.
Reports of sale to Elon Musk
According to a media report, the operators of the app planned to end it quickly given the deadline. They were preparing to pull the plug on Sunday themselves, the website “The Information” reported a few days ago.
According to media reports, the Chinese government is considering selling Tiktok’s US business to tech billionaire Elon Musk. The option was discussed in Beijing that Musk’s online platform X could take control of Tiktok US and operate the services together.
Swiss
