Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban law despite Sotomayor's disagreement
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- The Supreme Court upholds a law requiring a sale or ban of TikTok due to security concerns
- ByteDance said it has no plans to sell the platform
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed with part of the decision
- The law was passed last year, requiring TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest the platform by January 19
360 summary
- Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was considering an executive order that would give TikTok an additional "60 or 90 days" to comply with the law.
- Trump said he had discussed TikTok with China's Xi Jinping on Friday, but did not provide details.
- TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump's inauguration where he will sit alongside Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
The Washington Post
Newsweekusatoday.com
CBS NEWS
Fortune
engadget.com- TikTok creators behind the lawsuit urge the federal government to find a way to allow the app to continue operating as a "vital outlet for creativity, public discourse, and joy."
- Free speech advocates criticize the decision, saying it would expand government censorship and weaken the First Amendment.
- Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, said the court’s decision “has markedly expanded the government’s power to restrict speech in the name of national security.”
engadget.comThe Washington PostCBS NEWS- Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed with part of the decision, saying she was concurring 'concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. I join all but Part II.A of the Court's per curiam opinion', which discusses how the First Amendment applies to Congress' law.
- The law specifically bans US app stores, like Apple's and Google's, from carrying or updating the app. Companies that violate the law could face fines of up to $5,000 per user who accesses TikTok.
- The Biden administration said this week it does not plan to enforce the ban given that it is set to set effect one day before President Joe Biden leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
Newsweek
vanityfair.com
buzzfeed.com
Business Insider- Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI submitted a proposal to ByteDance to merge with TikTok's US business, without purchasing the algorithm that feeds TikTok user's videos based on their interests.
- "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt put together a consortium of investors that offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash.
- Lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns about TikTok's Chinese ownership and the large amount of information it gathers about American users, which could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion.
Fortune- Senator Rand Paul argues that the national security and data privacy risks Congress cited were based on accusations, not proof.
- He believes that TikTok has offered to work with Oracle to house the data in the United States and have an American board, and that the company is not solely owned by China.
- Senator Paul has consistently opposed the ban on TikTok, stating that banning speech is not the solution and that the US should not follow the authoritarian practices of other countries.
Newsweek- A group of senators sent a letter to the White House urging President Biden to extend the deadline by 90 days.
- The senators argued that a TikTok shutdown would have serious consequences for the millions of Americans and businesses that rely on the platform, especially for creators in California who have been using it to share their stories and find resources during the wildfires.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to Biden about extending the deadline, stating that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans.
Newsweek- Significant numbers of TikTok users are moving to RedNote, a similar app with built-in e-commerce functionality, as a result of the ban.
- RedNote stands to gain the abandoned TikTok shoppers, as it has e-commerce functionality built into it already.
- The ban raises questions about the US government's relationship with China and the potential for a new Cold War.
vice.com
- The Justice Department may choose not to enforce the law, but this may not be a permanent solution as the law has a five-year window for enforcement.
- Apple and Google are unlikely to take the risk of not complying with the law due to the hefty penalties that could follow.
- The sell-or-ban law allows the restrictions to be lifted as soon as there is a qualified sale, and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar predicted earlier this month that something like that may well happen.
usatoday.com
- An executive order cannot halt the sell-or-ban law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April.
- However, a promise from Trump not to enforce the law could potentially be used as a defense by companies in court.
- It is uncertain whether such a defense would be successful in court.
usatoday.com
- The US Supreme Court has upheld a law requiring a sale or ban of TikTok due to security concerns.
- TikTok argued before the Supreme Court that the law represents an unprecedented suppression of free speech, but the court ruled that "divestiture is necessary" to resolve lawmakers' fears about China.
- President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to keep TikTok alive in the US, but how he might execute that promise remains murky.
NPR- Many TikTok users and creators are experiencing the five stages of grief as they come to terms with the app's ban.
- The ban has united Democrats and Republicans, leaving many users confused about how this issue became so politically charged.
- Efforts to extend the deadline for TikTok to find a buyer or address privacy concerns have been made by both Democrats and Republicans, but the ban remains in place.
Newsweek- Users express anger towards elected officials who voted for the ban
- Many feel that banning TikTok is not a priority for the government
- Users believe that the government should focus on more pressing issues such as gun control and the economy
Newsweek- Users who migrated to RedNote experienced a cultural exchange and shock at what they saw, relating back to those still on TikTok who had not made the jump, often reposting videos back to TikTok.
- Discussions about the cost-of-living dominated, with many taken aback by the apparently cheap rent and cost of good quality groceries in China.
- However, some users noted that Americans on RedNote are seeing a highly curated and regulated view of Chinese life, and some of those who have experience of trying to caution that not everything Americans were seeing was the reality of what was going on in China.
Newsweek- Trump previously claimed that TikTok had something to do with his election victory and received billions of views on the platform
- Despite this, he supported the law requiring a sale or ban of TikTok due to security concerns
- Users are uncertain about the future of the app, as Trump has given mixed messages about whether or not he will actually ban it
Newsweek- Some TikTok users are worried about losing their jobs and communities if the app gets banned, as it took a lot of time and hard work to build their presence on the platform.
- Creators are urging their followers to find them on alternative platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and BlueSky, where they will try to continue their work through the Shorts and Reels feature.
- As the ban may kick in soon, creators are advising each other to save their posts and drafts, as TikTok has reportedly advised that the app will simply go dark.
Newsweek- Users have been expressing their sadness and gratitude towards the app, with some even creating a "TikTok funeral trend" to eulogize the platform.
- Therapist Jeff Guenther, who has a large following on TikTok, posted a heartfelt goodbye message to his followers, thanking them for their support and validation.
- Many users are aware that even if the ban is not enforced, they may still lose access to the app, which has played a significant role in their lives for the past few years.
Newsweek- TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, was required to divest the platform by January 19 due to security concerns, according to a law upheld by the US Supreme Court.
- TikTok has expressed concern that the Biden administration has not provided enough clarity and assurance to service providers, which could lead to the app being banned in the US.
- Some politicians and TikTok users have criticized the potential ban, arguing that it violates the First Amendment and that the government's reasons for banning the app are based on accusations rather than proof.
Newsweek- Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump's incoming national security advisor, stated that the new administration is committed to saving TikTok while keeping Americans safe.
- Waltz emphasized the importance of having an app that 170 million Americans enjoy and that was able to get the Trump campaign's message out in a powerful way.
- However, Waltz also expressed concerns about the FBI or the US government monitoring every keystroke or seeing every password, as well as the Chinese Communist Party having access to user data.
HuffPost- Trump may try to suspend the ban via an executive order for two or three months, but it's unclear what impact that move will have as companies may still drop TikTok since they would risk financial penalties if they kept the app online.
- Alternatively, Trump could allow TikTok to go down and bring the app back to app stores and the internet with a one-time, 90-day extension that would potentially give time to help facilitate a sale of TikTok, but the law only allows an extension if ByteDance is making progress toward a sale.
- Trump could lobby Congress to repeal the ban, though in doing so he would have to overcome the law's bipartisan support.
Forbes
theverge.com- Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Todd Ricketts commended Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for removing TikTok from their app stores.
- They encouraged other companies to comply with the new law, stating that it "risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it."
- The senators emphasized that ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law's qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China for the app to come back online in the future.
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