TikTok Loses U.S. Divest-or-Ban Appeal ⇥ bbc.com

Liv McMahon and Lily Jamali, BBC News:

TikTok’s bid to overturn a law which would see it banned or sold in the US from early 2025 has been rejected.

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TikTok says it will now take its fight to the US Supreme Court, the country’s highest legal authority.

The court’s opinion (PDF) is not particularly long. As this is framed as a question of national security, the court gives substantial deference to the government’s assessment of TikTok’s threat. It also views the legislation passed earlier this year to limit data brokers as a complementary component of this TikTok divest-or-ban law.

I still do not find this argument particularly compelling. There is still too much dependence on classified information and too little public evidence. A generous interpretation of this is the court knows something I do not, and perhaps this is completely justified. But who knows? The paranoia over this app is leaking but the proof is not.

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election may also present a lifeline for the app.

Despite unsuccessfully attempting to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, he said in the run-up to the November elections he would not allow the ban on TikTok to take effect.

I would be shocked if the incoming administration remains committed to overturning this ban, and not just because of its historically flaky reputation. This very decision references the actions of the first Trump presidency, though it owes more to the more tailored policies of the Biden administration.

If the U.S. Supreme Court does not stay this order and TikTok’s U.S. operations are not jettisoned from its global business, the ban will go into effect the day before Trump’s inauguration.