TikTok faces legal hurdles in the U.S.
Recently, widespread discussion has been generated by the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, more commonly known as the “TikTok ban.” The argument given by the government is that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese corporation ByteDance, presents a risk of data access by foreign entities, compromising critical information of its over 170 million American users. As per a law signed April 24, 2024 by President Joe Biden, ByteDance was given 270 days to sell the social media platform to a U.S.-owned company or the app would be banned in the United States. Since the bill was signed, the nine months period passed without the sale of the app, leading to new developments.
Critics of the ban have rendered these prohibitions as politically driven, limiting free speech and unfairly singling out one platform while ignoring more general data privacy issues in the internet sector. Millions of users, small businesses and creators who depend on TikTok for engagement or revenue are impacted by the restriction.
The law prohibiting the app was recently upheld by the Supreme Court on Jan. 17, 2025, citing the collection of American user data and the potentially promoting of China’s geopolitical interests as the court’s main concerns. Furthermore, they ruled that Congress’ ban did not impede on First Amendment rights concerning the freedom of speech because of the national security risks posed by the app. However, the Biden administration later announced that they would not enforce the ban for the remainder of his term. On Jan. 18, shortly before 9 p.m, the app announced to its American users that the app would be temporarily unavailable, despite President Biden’s decision to not use the bill. ByteDance’s message also rendered the app unusable, making the app’s functions “go dark,” other than a pop-up message. Twelve hours after the app shut down in the U.S., it was restored to users with a new welcome-back message thanking President Donald Trump for his efforts to find a resolution to reinstate TikTok.
Following President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order which will halt the U.S. ban of TikTok for another 75 days. The ban was first proposed by Trump in a 2020 executive order, but he has since stated that he has changed his views on the app during a recent press meeting in the oval office. Past the extended period given by Trump, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains unclear, with bipartisan support in Congress to continue to uphold the ban despite opposition from many American users.
