US Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Citing National Security Concerns

TikTok’s battle to avoid being banned in the US on January 19th is becoming increasingly difficult. The social media giant had appealed to the Supreme Court in an attempt to delay the ban, but unfortunately, their request has been rejected. This means that from January 19th, TikTok will effectively be blocked in the US, leaving content creators and users unable to access the platform.

The parent company of TikTok, Bytedance, has been accused of collecting data from American citizens, leading the government to view the platform as a national security risk. TikTok had the option to sell its US division to an American entity, but since no sale has been made, the ban is now set to go ahead. Interestingly, this ban comes just one day before Donald Trump leaves the White House, despite his campaign promise to keep TikTok active in the region.

TikTok argued to the Supreme Court that the ban would infringe upon the freedom of expression of its 170 million users and violate their constitutional rights. However, the court deemed that there are valid reasons for the ban to be implemented.

As for what Donald Trump plans to do with TikTok once he assumes office, no details have been revealed. While he promised to keep the platform open for US users during his campaign, he also attempted to ban the social media app in his first term.

Typically, the Supreme Court takes months to respond to cases, but in this instance, the response was relatively swift, likely due to the approaching deadline for the ban to take effect.