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Trump vows his TikTok decision in "not too distant future"

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TikTok CEO thanks Trump for support

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White House signals Biden will not act to save TikTok

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Law was passed on national security grounds

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TikTok cites constitutional free speech safeguards

(Recasts first paragraph, adds comments from users, analysts,

TikTok CEO)

By Andrew Chung and John Kruzel

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court upheld

on Friday a law banning TikTok in the United States on national

security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does

not sell it, putting the popular short-video app on track to go

dark in just two days.

The court's 9-0 decision throws the social media platform -

and its 170 million American users - into limbo, and its fate in

the hands of Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescue TikTok after

returning to the presidency on Monday.

The law was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in

Congress last year and signed by President Joe Biden, though a

growing chorus of lawmakers who voted it are now seeking to keep

TikTok operating in the United States.

TikTok, ByteDance and some of the app's users challenged the

law, but the Supreme Court decided that it did not violate the

U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against

government abridgment of free speech as they had argued.

ByteDance has done little to divest of TikTok by the Sunday

deadline set under the law. But the app's shutdown might be

brief. Trump, who in 2020 had tried to ban TikTok, has said he

plans to take action to save the app.

"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 said in a social media post.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump's second

inauguration on Monday in Washington.

"I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work

with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the

United States," Chew said in a statement, while reiterating the

company's free speech claims.

Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed

TikTok in a phone call on Friday.

It is possible that TikTok could keep operating on Sunday if

the Biden administration clearly states it will not enforce the

law in deference to the incoming Trump administration. However,

it is not clear if that would convince Apple ( AAPL ),

Alphabet's Google, Oracle and others not to

stop providing key services to TikTok.

'FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROL'

TikTok's Chinese ownership for years has raised concerns

among American leaders, and the TikTok fight has unfolded at a

time of rising trade tensions between the world's two biggest

economies. Trump is expected to levy high tariffs on Chinese

goods due to what he terms unfair trade practices from the

world's biggest exporter.

Lawmakers and Biden's administration had emphasized national

security concerns regarding TikTok, including that China could

use it to amass data on the millions of Americans using the app

for harassment, recruitment and espionage.

"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 Supreme Court said

in the unsigned opinion.

TikTok has become one of the most prominent social media

platforms in the United States, particularly among young people

who use it for short-form videos, including many who use it as a

platform for small businesses.

Some users reacted with shock that the ban could actually

happen.

"Oh my god, I'm speechless," said Lourd Asprec, 21, of

Houston, who has amassed 16.3 million followers on TikTok and

makes an estimated $80,000 a year from the platform. "I don't

even care about China stealing my data. They can take all my

data from me. Like, if anything, I'll go to China myself and

give them my data."

The company's powerful algorithm, its main asset, feeds

individual users short videos tailored to their liking. The

platform presents a vast collection of user-submitted videos,

often under a minute in duration, that can be viewed with a

smart phone app or on the internet.

As the Jan. 19 deadline approached, millions of users jumped

to other Chinese-owned apps like RedNote, finding they had to

decipher its all-Mandarin platform to kickstart their feeds.

"China is adapting in real-time to the ruling," said Craig

Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of

Democracies think tank, which submitted a brief in the case

against TikTok. "Beijing isn't just building apps; it's building

a discourse power ecosystem to shape global narratives and

influence societies."

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the

ruling affirmed that the law protects U.S. national security.

"Authoritarian regimes should not have unfettered access to

millions of Americans' sensitive data," Garland added.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The Biden administration has emphasized that TikTok could

continue operating as-is if it is freed from China's control.

The White House indicated on Friday that Biden will not take any

action to save TikTok.

As Biden is not expected to formally invoke a 90-day delay

in the deadline as allowed by the law, companies providing

services to TikTok or hosting the app could face legal

liability.

It is not immediately clear if TikTok's business partners

including Apple ( AAPL ), Google and Oracle will continue doing business

with it before Trump is inaugurated. The law bars providing

certain services to TikTok and other foreign

adversary-controlled apps including by offering it through app

stores such as Apple ( AAPL ) and Google.

Google declined to comment on Friday. Apple ( AAPL ) and Oracle did

not immediately respond to requests for comment.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a

statement reiterated Biden's position that "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."

Given the timing, Jean-Pierre added, action to implement the

law "must fall to the next administration."

A viable buyer could still emerge, or Trump could invoke a

law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,

stating that keeping TikTok is beneficial for national security.

Only one notable bidder has emerged so far - Frank McCourt,

former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, who said

he believes TikTok is worth about $20 billion without its

algorithm.

"Beijing needs TikTok more than Washington does," said

Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow and expert in U.S.-China

relations at the Hudson Institute think tank. "With that

leverage, Trump has a better chance of getting what he wants:

TikTok's continued operation in America without any national

security threats."