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When will TikTok be banned in the United States? Washington scrambles as ByteDance is poised to let the app go dark

The Supreme Court has upheld the law that could lead to TikTok going dark for the 170 million users in the US. When could the ban go into effect?

When will TikTok be banned in the United States? Washington scrambles as ByteDance is poised to let the app go dark
Dado RuvicREUTERS

The US Supreme Court unanimously agreed to uphold a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest from its US operations or face a ban.

TikTok is used by 170 million people in the United States, and the possibility of it going dark could have serious economic consequences, particularly for the millions of content creators and businesses that use the app for marketing.

According to estimates by Pew Research, around a third of adults use the app, with younger generations—59 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds—being significantly more active compared to only 25 percent of adults over thirty. The app’s popularity is coming into clear focus for political leaders, who are now scrambling to keep it online until a US buyer can reach a deal with ByteDance. Once in office, the White House could provide a ninety-day extension, but ByteDance has not confirmed its willingness to sell. As a private company, Congress cannot force the company to operate in the US, presenting a political challenge entirely of their own making.

The app could disappear from app stores as soon as Sunday, January 19—the day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Why is the US government seeking to ban TikTok?

The bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in April 2024 gave ByteDance up to a year to complete the sale of the platform to a US company. Members of Congress have been accused of having ties to the Chinese government. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is accused of being a tool of the Chinese Communist Party and has become a boogeyman for anti-China hawks who remain unconvinced by ByteDance’s efforts to protect the data of US users.

Lawmakers have expressed concerns that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, could provide the Chinese government with sensitive data on American users, including location information. However, additional comments from leaders reveal that their concerns extend beyond links to the Chinese government. These reasons were given by the Supreme Court when it came time to rule on the constitutionality of the bill.

Former Utah Senator Mitt Romney spoke candidly about Congress feeling compelled to ban the social media platform after what he described as “anti-Israel” propaganda spreading widely following the attack by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, and the ongoing war in Gaza by the Israeli government. During an event where the senator interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Romney asked why Israel and the US government had been unable to control the public narrative.

The secretary explained that social media has upended how news is disseminated to the public, often lacking “context, history, [and] fact” instead of moving people emotionally through the images they see on their feeds. Several scholars of genocide, as well as international organizations, have described Israel’s assault on Gaza as genocide. The US government denies these allegations targeting its ally and understands that when the American public sees images coming from Gaza, many are horrified. Those moved by these images want the violence to end and are uninterested in litigating historical context.

After Blinken’s response, the former senator made “a small parenthetical point‚” explaining that the problem of these images’ spread was one reason for the “overwhelming support [in Congress] to shut down [...] TikTok and other entities of that nature.”

If you look at the postings on TikTok and the number of Palestinians relative to other social media sites, it’s overwhelming,” Romney added.

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