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Why SCOTUS Believe Freedom of Speech Does Not Apply to TikTok?

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By Aakansha Malia

January 18, 2025
3:13 pm
Los Angeles, CA

As TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is just hours away from a potential ban in the United States, all eyes are on the social media platform’s next move—whether it will divest ownership and sell to a U.S.-based entity or cease operations altogether. A federal ban is expected to take effect on January 19, as the Supreme Court upheld the law today. The court has issued a ruling in the legal case where TikTok has challenged the ban on the grounds that it violates Americans’ First Amendment rights and freedom of speech. Sources revealed to Reuters that TikTok will shut down operations of the app, which is used by 170 million Americans, if the federal ban is enforced, making it illegal for app stores to distribute the platform

Sources revealed to Reuters that TikTok will shut down operations of the app, which is used by 170 million Americans, if the federal ban is enforced, making it illegal for app stores to distribute the platform to American users. An unnamed member of Biden’s team told CNBC earlier this week, “Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday.”

This revelation follows the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Joe Biden’s ultimatum made last April, when he signed into law the *Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA)*, citing national security concerns. Washington claims that the app is being used by Beijing to spy on millions of Americans and spread propaganda.

The justices hearing the oral arguments were skeptical of TikTok’s position and remained unconvinced. They concluded that the law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden last year does not infringe on the First Amendment, as it does not mandate a ban on content within the app. Instead, it requires the parent company to transfer ownership and operations of TikTok to an American-based entity. Hence, TikTok lost its First Amendment claim, which argued for a right to distribute its content.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged that while TikTok is “a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression,” Congress had determined that a sale was necessary to “address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”

The law specifically targets ByteDance’s foreign ownership and the potential risks posed by its algorithms, rather than restricting free expression on the app. Moreover, the justices seemed to agree that the Chinese government could manipulate the information collected from Americans, potentially using it for blackmail or espionage.

On January 15, Senator Tom Cotton blocked an effort led by Senate Democrats to extend the deadline for the ban of TikTok. Cotton criticized TikTok for promoting violence, obscenity, eating disorders, drug use, and even suicide. He asserted, “Internal company documents even revealed that content promoting pedophilia has long flowed right past TikTok’s supposed moderators, and its lethal algorithm has cost the lives of many American kids.” He further alleged that China uses TikTok to amplify its propaganda while suppressing critical information about issues like China’s genocide of the Uyghur people, the situation in Tibet, Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Tiananmen Square, and the origins of COVID-19— all topics critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

After initially supporting a ban on the app, former President Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as president again on January 20, has now reversed his position. He has urged the Supreme Court to put a hold on the ban deadline, asking to give his incoming administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”