US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban law

The US Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok nationwide unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.

TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for the app’s more than 170 million users it says it has in the US.

But that argument was rejected by the nation’s highest court, meaning TikTok must now find an approved buyer for the US version of the app or face being removed from app stores and web hosting services.

However, the outgoing Biden administration and incoming President Donald Trump have been trying to work out a reprieve for the platform, which US authorities have warned poses a national security risk.

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.

The law gives TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, until 19 January to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.

It would mean that from Sunday Apple and Google will no longer offer the app to new users or provide any security updates to current users – which could kill it off eventually.

The company has vowed not to sell TikTok.