TikTok is to be banned across the United States from this Sunday (January 19) if it is not sold, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The future of the site was thrown into question when its parent company, ByteDance, lost an appeal against a US law seeking to ban it. ByteDance also said repeatedly that it was not willing to sell, although doing so would allow it to remain available in the country.
Now, following the latest ruling by the Supreme Court, the White House has shared a statement saying that the social media platform will remain available to those living in the States. “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” it read (via Sky News).
The Judges came to the decision when deciding whether to overturn the proposed ban after hearing appeals from users and creators. While it has ruled that the band will stay in place, current President Joe Biden has said that he will not enforce it while he remains in office. Instead, he will wait until President-elect Donald Trump has his inauguration this weekend – leaving it to the Republican party leader to decide how to proceed.
Trump previously tried to get the ban delayed so that he could make a decision while he was in office, however, the Supreme Court decided to stick with the original proposition.
Donald Trump. CREDIT: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Outlets such as Sky News have highlighted the various routes that the incoming president could face in regards to TikTok’s future in the US. One of which would be TikTok itself deciding to pull the plug for US users, meaning those in the States looking to access the app would be unable to do so.
Another thing that could happen would be that the app would remain usable for those in the US while companies like Apple and Google gradually take it off their respective app stores. This would be a long, tedious process, meaning that no new users could join the app and new updates would be impossible to access. As the app worked slower and had more bugs that went unfixed, users would gradually decline.
There is also a possibility that Trump could find a way to stop the ban from being enforced. While he cannot overturn the ban, he does have the power to undermine it – potentially telling app stores that they will not face any consequences by keeping the app on their platforms.
Although ByteDance has confirmed that they are not looking to sell the app, that hasn’t stopped multiple famous faces from reaching out and expressing their interest in purchasing the platform.
Elon Musk, for example, was a name in the running. The rumours arose following the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla purchasing Twitter for a staggering $44billion in 2022 and rebranding it as X. A potential sale to Musk was valued between $40billion and $50billion.
This was soon shut down by TikTok, however, with creators saying: “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
Elon Musk. Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Shortly afterwards, YouTube sensation MrBeast told his followers that he would step up and acquire the platform to prevent it being banned in the US. He later posted a follow-up, insinuating that he and other billionaires were contemplating working together to make a bid.
Rapper Meek Mill got involved in the hype too and sent out a tweet asking owners of TikTok to sell the app to him. This was by no means taken seriously by his followers, however.
The sell-or-ban measure for TikTok was issued into law by outgoing Biden last year amid claims that the company’s ownership structure could allow the Chinese government to gain access to the data of its millions of American users.
India banned the app nationwide in 2020, while Taiwan and Afghanistan did the same in 2022.
Over 30 US states, Canada and the European Union have separately banned the app from use on government-owned devices over concerns it could pose a security risk.
The consequence of a US TikTok ban could have a significant impact on the music industry. A recent report by the platform claimed that a majority of US and UK chart-topping singles in 2024 were associated with a TikTok trend.
Although the ban is not yet in place, TikTok users have already begun to migrate to other apps. Another Chinese platform called RedNote has reportedly seen more than 700,000 new users in just two days, according to Reuters.
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