The News
The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law banning TikTok in the country unless it divested from its Chinese owner ByteDance.
In a an unsigned ruling, the court rejected TikTok’s argument that the ban was a violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech. There were no noted dissents.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the ruling read. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
The ban will go into effect Sunday, though President Joe Biden will not enforce the ban, a US official said Friday, leaving the app’s fate to incoming President Donald Trump. Trump has explored ways to save TikTok, including mulling an executive order to suspend the law’s enforcement.
After the court’s ruling Friday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Friday thanked Trump for his efforts to rescue the app, saying in a video: “This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” adding, “We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform.”
Despite bids by several prominent American investors, ByteDance has so far refused to sell the app, and instead promoted Lemon8 — another video-sharing app it owns — as a potential replacement for TikTok.
SIGNALS
Trump and Democrats align on saving TikTok
Biden has left TikTok’s fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who wants to rescue the app: Trump discussed the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a phone call Friday, while TikTok’s CEO — who is invited to sit at Trump’s inauguration dais — thanked the president-elect for his support. In an “unusual alliance,” top Democratic lawmakers also sided with Trump after realizing that their gambit to force TikTok’s sale, and therefore avoid backlash from their base, backfired, Punchbowl News reported. But Trump’s plans remain unclear, and without White House and legal intervention, “Democrats are staring down the consequences of a TikTok ban, namely the public backlash likely to come from getting rid of one of the most popular apps with young voters.”
Ban may not hurt TikTok stars, but could impact small businesses
TikTok stars told GQ Magazine that they weren’t terribly concerned about a ban; some were skeptical it would even be enforced, while others believed they would easily migrate to other apps. TikTok users are planning ways to bypass an impending firewall, including using VPNs, Semafor’s Rachyl Jones reported, and many Americans this week turned to another Chinese-owned app, Xianhongshu, as an alternative. But the ban may have a more profound economic impact on small businesses reliant on TikTok because, unlike other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes engagement over follower count, Forbes wrote, allowing “even the smallest ventures to reach audiences that were previously out of reach.”
TikTok alternative Xiaohongshu’s US popularity may be short-lived
Americans anticipating the TikTok ban migrated to Chinese video-sharing app Xiaohongshu, vaulting it to the No. 1 app in the US this week. While many welcomed the rare cultural exchange between the two superpowers at a time of US-China tensions — and enjoyed the irony of a highly censored Chinese app benefiting from Washington’s efforts to ban another China-owned platform — Xiaohongshu’s popularity may be short-lived, the Financial Times wrote. Beijing has already pressed Xiaohongshu to prevent China-based users from accessing American users’ content, and the app is now in the crosshairs of US lawmakers who pushed for the TikTok ban. Still, Xiaohongshu’s backers are looking to sell their shares, in a deal that could value the app at $20 billion, Bloomberg reported.