Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban; TikTok Goes Dark
With the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to uphold the TikTok ban, the app goes down
TikTok is officially banned today. On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), arguing that the legitimate governmental interest in compelling divestiture in the app exceeds any alleged risk to free speech. The decision, which ensures that the act will go into effect, cast doubt on the app’s future, but at 9:38 PM CST, the app made the first move regarding its future.
What Happened
Initially, TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, didn’t give any assurances about the app's continued functionality. Instead, he repeatedly praised incoming President Trump for saying that he will “most likely” give TikTok an extension.
As The Financial Times explained
In a video posted on TikTok following the court’s decision, the group’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew gave no reassurances on whether the app would continue to function in the US on Sunday, but lavished Trump with praise. “I want to thank president Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” he said, adding the president-elect “truly understands” the platform.
“I want to thank president Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship…”
The praise is likely intended to persuade the President-elect to commit to a long-term rejection of any ban. With only two days left in office, President Biden isn’t expected to enforce the ban, leaving the fate of TikTok to the discretion of the incoming Trump administration.
Any legislation to prevent the ban of TikTok is also unlikely to come, as the Senate attempted to pass an extension, only for Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) to block it. In a statement, Sen. Cotton said:
"So let me be crystal clear: there will be no extensions, no concessions, and no compromises for TikTok. ByteDance and the Chinese Communists had plenty of time to make a deal.
While many Americans hoped that the Biden administration’s unwillingness to enforce the ban would allow the app to continue, TikTok released a statement preventing its American users from accessing it, explicitly putting pressure on the incoming Trump administration.
While TikTok may be hoping to pressure the incoming Trump administration, the decision to cancel TikTokers' access before the act goes into effect makes it harder for creators to transition to other social media. While TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, may argue that they are defending free speech, that is hardly a consolation for the 170 million Americans and the nearly 2 million creators who use it to make ends meet. The TikTok ban is another wasted opportunity to protect Americans, but instead, we are facing an overly complicated disaster that helps nobody.