The future of TikTok in the U.S. has been uncertain for over four years, as influencers and users faced constant anxiety regarding potential bans of the popular video-sharing app. This situation reached a critical point when the Supreme Court recently upheld federal legislation that will prohibit the app starting Sunday, unless its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., divests it to an approved buyer.
The unanimous ruling concluded a legal contest weighing national security concerns against free speech rights. TikTok, alongside ByteDance and many loyal users who depend on the platform for entertainment, income, and community, argued that the new law interfered with the First Amendment’s protections. Meanwhile, the Biden administration argued that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok presented a significant risk to U.S. national security.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, the TikTok situation remains precarious and is intertwined with larger geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. A Biden administration official indicated that the outgoing government would leave the law’s execution—along with any associated enforcement decisions—up to President-elect Donald Trump.
Upon returning to the White House just after the ban takes effect, Trump has credited TikTok for helping him garner support from younger voters during the last election. A Trump advisor indicated that the upcoming administration would implement strategies to prevent TikTok from being shuttered, although specifics on those strategies and their legal viability were not clear.
TikTok’s rise has been meteoric. Originating from more than 100 apps created in the last decade by ByteDance—founded in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming—TikTok emerged as a major player in the global social media landscape. The app, which evolved from its Chinese counterpart Douyin launched in 2016, gained international acclaim when ByteDance acquired the lip-syncing app Musical.ly and integrated it with TikTok, while maintaining Douyin as a separate entity.
TikTok’s unique approach of personalizing content based on user interests set it apart from traditional social media platforms. This innovative model allowed content creators to share light-hearted videos and music clips, establishing a cheerful and authentic online space. TikTok significantly grew in popularity during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and viral dance challenges became widespread, leading competitors like Instagram and YouTube to create their similar features, Reels and Shorts respectively, in an effort to keep up.
However, increased scrutiny accompanied TikTok’s success. U.S. officials raised concerns about the app’s Chinese ownership and the potential for government access to users’ data, citing Chinese laws mandating compliance regarding user information requests. TikTok’s algorithm, which determines the content shown to users, also came under fire.
During his presidency, Trump attempted to impose bans on TikTok and the Chinese messaging app WeChat through executive orders in 2020, though these efforts were obstructed by the courts. That same year, India banned TikTok and several other Chinese applications following a border clash with China.
In 2021, the Biden administration rolled back Trump-era bans but continued a national security review of TikTok through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Over the next year and a half, TikTok’s representatives engaged in negotiations with the Biden administration that resulted in a draft security proposal presented to CFIUS in August 2022, although substantial discussions then came to a halt.
The proposed framework aimed to increase security over TikTok’s U.S. operations while restricting Chinese access to American user data. TikTok stated that it invested over $2 billion to begin implementing aspects of this proposal, termed Project Texas. However, U.S. officials contended that this framework did not sufficiently distance the app’s American operations from China, complicating its approval and enforcement.
In February 2023, the White House mandated the removal of TikTok from federal devices, aligning with similar actions taken by other nations. Shortly after, TikTok’s CEO faced a congressional hearing where he sought to calm concerns about user safety while defending the app against claims related to its Chinese ties.
As discussions in Congress picked up momentum early last year, there was a notable bipartisan agreement on the necessity of regulating TikTok, with lawmakers expressing fears about the platform’s potential to monitor and influence American users. The bill was ratified in April, becoming part of a significant aid package for Ukraine and Israel before being signed into law by President Biden, prompting lawsuits from TikTok and creators.
The law, upheld by a lower court, mandated that ByteDance had nine months from the enactment date to divest TikTok, with the possibility of an additional three months if a sale was underway. With the deadline occurring just before Trump’s inauguration, only the sitting president has the authority to issue a stay on the ban. This legal complexity leaves ambiguity regarding TikTok’s immediate future.
Experts have asserted that while the app is unlikely to immediately vanish from existing users’ devices, new downloads will be prohibited, and no updates will be issued, gradually rendering it nonfunctional, according to statements made by the Justice Department in court documents.
