TikTok’s Time in the US is Slowly Ticking Down
By: Meera Swami
TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps used by over 170 million Americans, is potentially on the chopping block on the App and Google Play Store in the US. Concerns over threats to national security and privacy led lawmakers to create the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that bans TikTok from being used in the US starting January 19th. Lawmakers believe that the app’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, may be spying and sharing American’s data without their consent and spreading propaganda. By creating this law, it “requires the widely popular app to cut ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or lose access to app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S.” (cbsnews.com). However, many supporters of the app argue that the act signed violates their First Amendment rights to free speech and are against the ban.
Today, January 10th, the Supreme Court will be hearing arguments from TikTok regarding the claims of violating the First Amendment, spying, stealing data, and national security threats and ultimately will determine the constitutionality of the law. If the Supreme Court deems that the law is constitutional, TikTok will be banned in the US unless the app is sold from ByteDance by the 19th.
Sources:
cato.org
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2025/01/09/tiktok-ban-supreme-court/77574543007
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/09/tiktok-ban-supreme-court-arguments-ruling
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-trial-ban-appeal-bytedance
