The United States Supreme Court has upheld a US government decision to ban the Chinese social media platform in the country, but a reprieve from Donald Trump may yet be on the cards.
In a rare, unanimous verdict from the bench, the Supreme Court opinion cited national security concerns that would essentially deny 170 million TikTok users in the United States.
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“TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the Government’s national security concerns,” the opinion reads.
However, while that would usually result in the end of the road for TikTok’s legal challenges, having lost in the highest court in the land, the timing offers TikTok owner ByteDance a potential lifeline. We’re in the final three days of Joe Biden’s presidency and the White House isn’t going to ban the app during the administration’s final weekend in office.
A White House spokesperson said: “The administration has decided to defer implementation of the law banning TikTok in the U.S. to the incoming Trump administration, the officials said, effectively not enforcing it during the final 36 hours of President Joe Biden’s term in office.
“Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement.”
That leaves TikTok’s fate in the hands of the incoming Trump administration. In comments coming after the Supreme Court’s verdict, Trump said: “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”
Trump has previously expressed a desire to save the social media platform and an executive order could accomplish that.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
