TikTok Just Got Closer to Being Banned. Here's What It Means for You

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: getty

Within days, TikTok could be banned from being distributed in the United States and, eventually, stop working as an app altogether if the U.S. Supreme Court does not intervene toblock a bipartisan lawthat is set to take effect on Jan. 19.

On Friday, Jan. 10, the justices heard arguments on whether or not to step in and temporarily pause the measure given what TikTok claims isa violation of free speechfor its tens of millions of American users.

TheTimesreports that a ruling is expected imminently, given the Jan. 19 deadline.

“The law is only targeted at this foreign corporation, which doesn’t have First Amendment rights,” Justice Elena Kagan said at one point at Friday’s hearing.

Countries like India have taken similar action against TikTok.

China has likewise banned several massive U.S. platforms, like Facebook, Google and YouTube.

TikTok has pushed back,criticizing the sell-or-ban legislationas “conceived and pushed through based on inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”

“The government just doesn’t get to say ‘national security’ and the case is over,” an attorney for some TikTok users, Jeffrey Fisher, told the Supreme Court on Friday. “It’s not enough to say ‘national security’ — you have to say, ‘What is the real harm?’ ”

Lower courtshave concludedthe federal government has a valid interest in thinking the Chinese app could create national security issues regarding China’s government.

On Friday, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing on behalf of the government, said the solution was simple: TikTok could operate as normal — if only ByteDance would sell it.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett echoed that as well: “The law doesn’t say ‘shut down’ [TikTok]. It says ByteDance must divest. If it did that, we wouldn’t be here."

More broadly, said Justice Samuel Alito, “If TikTok went dark, is there reason to doubt some other media company won’t jump in?”

However, Justice Neil Gorsuch sounded more skeptical, noting that TikTok would accept a disclaimer about China and saying, “Don’t we normally assume that the best remedy for problematic speech is counter speech?”

Incoming President Donald Trump has pushed for a pause to the new law as well, filing a brief about it before the high court urging that he be given time to “resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

TikTok has called that a “total ban,” though in practice the app will not magically disappear from users’ phones on Jan. 19.

Instead, the law would force the app to be removed from app stores (like through Apple or Google) and make it inaccessible through internet browsers in America.

If TikTok or other internet companies violated the law, they could face giant financial penalties.

People who still have TikTok as an app on their phone could potentially access its content after Jan. 19, but the app would not be updated over time and would be expected to become more difficult to use.

“We go dark,” TikTok attorney Noel Francisco told the justices on Friday, “Essentially, the platform shuts down.”

New users would not be able to access or download TikTok.

However, the new law requires that TikTok provide users with their data, including content they posted, if they request it before the restrictions take effect on Jan. 19.

source: people.com