US Supreme Court Bans Tik Tok, Here is How This Will Affect You

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok in the country unless its China-based parent company divests ownership of the platform before a January 19 deadline.

The Court’s nine justices ruled that without a sale, TikTok could pose a significant national security risk, potentially serving as a tool for Chinese spying and political manipulation.

The decision means TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users may have to delete the app, as both Apple and Android app stores are expected to cease updates and remove the app from their platforms entirely making it difficult to use without updates as bugs filter and compatibility issues as technology improves.

even for for Zimbabweans and other countries,the applications will go dark due to lack of automatic support, unless they host it on other app stores but still the US market of 170million will be blocked tgo whatever server it points to.

The law would not ban users from using TikTok, nor would it remove it from their phones. However, U.S. app stores and internet service providers would be barred from hosting the app, effectively stopping any new downloads, and that would include any updates for TikTok.

That means the app would eventually go defunct and potentially suffer from decreased functionality, performance issues and compatibility problems with new operating systems on users’ phones, tablets, etc.

In April 2024, Congress passed a bill giving ByteDance nine months to find a US-approved buyer. The bill was signed into law by president Joe Biden.

Lawmakers and officials says the company has links to the Chinese Communist Party, prompting concern that it could be forced to hand over data about American users to Beijing. The Justice Department has said that TikTok poses “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale”.

TikTok’s lawyer Noel Francisco said during oral arguments Friday he believed the platform would essentially shut down if the ban takes effect. TikTok’s lawyers also recently argued banning the app from American internet service providers who host it would stop TikTok from being able to “provid[e] the services that enable the TikTok platform to function, effectively shutting down TikTok in the United States.”

The proposed ban was enacted by Congress with bipartisan supportin April. Now, that law is being disputed in front of the Supreme Court. The ban gave Chinese-owned ByteDance until 19 January to sell TikTok. If it fails to do so, a nationwide ban is set to come into force – despite having 170 million US users.

Even if the ban does go into effect, it’s not necessarily permanent. ByteDance would still have the option to sell the platform to a non-Chinese owner to restore access for American users.

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Court to delay its decision while he seeks a “political” solution. However, his second term will not begin until the day after the ban is scheduled to start

Legal experts have also suggested that Trump could simply choose not to enforce the law and signal to Apple and Google that they won’t be fined for continuing to host the app on their platforms.

“It is possible that come January 20th, 21st, 22nd, we might be in a different world,” Francisco, TikTok’s attorney, said Friday, referencing the change in administration.

It’s not clear, however, that those companies would be willing to violate the letter of the law, even with an assurance from Trump.

And there are willing buyers. A group created by billionaire Frank McCourt and backed by Shark Tank-famous investor Kevin O’Leary said Thursday they made a formal bid to ByteDance to acquire TikTok’s US assets, although the company has repeatedly said the app is not for sale.