Supreme Court rejects appeals against TikTok ban
By Josh White
Date: Friday 17 Jan 2025
(Sharecast News) - TikTok, the popular social media platform owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, will be banned in the United States from Sunday, the US Supreme Court ruled on Friday, unless it is sold to non-Chinese ownership.
The decision came as the court rejected appeals from TikTok creators and the company itself.
President Joe Biden said he would not enforce the ban during his final hours in office, leaving the ultimate decision to incoming president Donald Trump, who is set to take office on Monday.
Trump - a prolific TikTok user with more than 14.8 million followers - had expressed interest in determining the app's future, but lacks the power to directly overturn the Supreme Court's ruling.
He could, however, decline to enforce the ban or provide assurances to companies like Apple and Google to retain the app on their platforms, though such actions would carry legal uncertainties.
ByteDance has consistently refused to sell the app amid its appeals to the ban.
If the ban proceeds, TikTok could pre-emptively deactivate its platform in the US, leaving its 170 million American users unable to access the app.
Alternatively, the app could gradually fade out as it is removed from app stores, becomes outdated, and loses creators.
Amid the uncertainty, many US TikTok users were reportedly migrating to alternative platforms.
The Chinese app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, has seen a surge of 700,000 new American users in recent days, according to Reuters.
Others were apparently shifting to established US-based platforms such as Meta's Instagram Reels and Alphabet's YouTube Shorts, echoing trends observed when India banned TikTok in 2020.
At 1137 EST (1437 GMT), shares in Alphabet were up 1.5% at $197.33, while those in Meta Platforms were ahead 0.57% at $614.80.
Snap Inc, which owns another alternative app in Snapchat, was heading in the other direction, falling 1.38% to $11.06.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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