Appeal dismissed, TikTok to be shut down in the US from Sunday

The Chinese video-sharing app TikTok could be banned in the United States from Sunday (January 19). The country's lawmakers banned it. The app's operators appealed to the Supreme Court against this. However, the court ruled unanimously in favor of the ban. However, it is not yet clear how the ban on TikTok will be implemented. 

The White House says it will leave the matter to the Trump administration, which is set to take office on January 20. Supreme Court justices ruled on Friday (January 16) that Congress's legislation to sell U.S. ownership of TikTok to Chinese app owner ByteDance does not violate U.S. free speech rights. It is worth noting that US authorities have been pressuring TikTok to hand over ownership to the US authorities, citing security concerns. TikTok authorities have appealed this decision. Last year, ByteDance was asked to sell TikTok to a US owner by January 19. But it did not do so. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the TikTok ban, according to Reuters. Nine justices unanimously ruled that the app was a unique and engaging platform for 170 million Americans, but Congress said it raised national security concerns about its data collection practices and ties to foreign adversaries. The White House statement said the outgoing Biden administration will not take action to protect TikTok.

On the other hand, Trump, who opposed the TikTok ban, will take office on Monday. Trump said the Supreme Court's ruling was expected. Everyone should respect it. A decision on TikTok will be announced soon. He said Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with him on Friday on various issues, including TikTok.