The Supreme Court has upheld a federal law that will ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., secures a buyer by Sunday, January 19, according to The Associated Press. The unanimous ruling prioritised national security concerns over First Amendment challenges. While the ban is not expected to require app removal from phones, experts anticipate blocking new downloads and updates, eventually rendering TikTok inoperable. A sale by ByteDance could halt the restrictions, but no agreement seems imminent.

Despite concerns about alienating TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users, President Joe Biden signed the legislation after it passed Congress with strong support. However, Biden has stated he will not enforce the ban on Sunday. President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has nearly 15 million TikTok followers, expressed hope for a resolution.

TikTok initially sued the U.S. government in 2024, calling the ban an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights.” However, the Supreme Court countered in its opinion that Congress had demonstrated well-founded national security risks linked to TikTok’s data practices and ties to a foreign adversary. The decision highlights the ongoing tension between digital privacy, free speech, and national security.