170 million Tik Tok users are preparing to say goodbye to the app, as a law to shut it down unless its Chinese owners agree to sell it.
(ABC 6 News) — 170 million Tik Tok users are saying goodbye to the app, as a law to shut it down unless its Chinese owners agree to sell it, will be enacted on Jan. 19.
The law is raising questions about the First Amendment rights of the company and the app’s users, but on Friday, the United States Supreme Court ruled to uphold the law, citing concerns over foreign influence through the app.
“If manipulation is a justification for what congress does and that overcomes you know first amendment concerns, then maybe congress has been given more authority to go after not only foreign manipulation, but also domestic manipulation,” Shubha Ghosh, Professor of Law at Syracuse College of Law, said.
But even with the ruling, Ghosh said concerns over foreign manipulation could still exist even if its Chinese owners, Byte Dance, were to divest.
“It can occur in lots of different ways. I mean, ownership is the most visible, I guess, so there is a notion that if a foreign government owns it, it has the potential to manipulate, but it can manipulate without owning.”
But for those who love the app, there is still hope it could be saved.
In an executive order during his last term, President Elect Donald Trump called the spread of Tik Tok and apps like it a threat to national security.
Trump has now changed his tune, crediting the app for helping him win the 2024 presidential election.
You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for Tik Tok because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump said in December 2024.
With the ban set to go into effect on Sunday, Trump says he will most likely grant an extension after he takes office on Monday.
