Is TikTok really getting banned? Everything we know so far as shutdown looms ahead of Supreme Court's hearing
- Will social media giant find a way to keep operating? When is the closure due?
- READ MORE: TikTok ban divides Trump as Supreme Court prepares to hear case
TikTok is facing the growing risk that it will be shut down in the United States after Congress passed a law in 2024 banning the popular video sharing app.
The platform made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court in December 2024 to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform unless it divests from its Chinese parent company as its shutdown deadline looms.
TikTok presented its case before the highest US court in a final attempt to overturn the ban that could force the app to split from its owner by January 19.
Content creators who rely on the app for income and some of TikTok's more than 170 million users in the US have made similar cries to the courts to keep the app available.
For years lawmakers have touted banning the app due to national security concerns over its Chinese parent company ByteDance and claims they are collecting data and spying on users, despite the platforms resounding popularity among Americans.
So will the ban actually go ahead? Here is everything we know about the potential TikTok shutdown and what could happen next.
Why is TikTok at risk of being banned?
President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April 2024 after is was passed by Congress.
Allegations have swirled for years that the Chinese Communist Party is using the video-sharing app to spy on its American users' locations and manipulate its algorithm to conduct influence campaigns.
TikTok is at risk of being shutdown in the United States after Congress passed a law in 2024 banning the popular video sharing app
A large number of US lawmakers - Republicans and Democrats - are not convinced that TikTok is independent of Beijing despite being headquartered outside China.
The app has been a diplomatic hot potato between the United States and China since the administration of former president Donald Trump, who once wanted to ban it.
A 2020 executive order by then-President Trump also suggested China could use TikTok's data to 'track the locations of federal employees and contractors' and to 'conduct corporate espionage.'
When is the TikTok ban due to come into effect?
The law banning TikTok requires its Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its stakes by January 19, 2025.
TikTok asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block the law while it battles it out in a lower court.
A panel of federal judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an emergency plea to block the law, which allowed the company to appeal to SCOTUS.
The same panel unanimously earlier upheld the law over a First Amendment challenge claiming that it violated free speech rights claiming divesting 'is essential to protect our national security.'
The platform made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform
A source familiar confirmed with DailyMail.com that president-elect Trump met with the TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew (pictured)
Will the TikTok ban be delayed?
TikTok asked the Supreme Court to make a decision by January 6 and put the deadline on hold while it challenges the lower court ruling that upheld the law.
'A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter - before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,' lawyers for the companies told the Supreme Court.
The request first went to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency appeals from courts in the nation's capital, and will almost certainly seek input from the other judge. If SCOTUS does not act, the ban will go into effect on January 19.
President-elect Donald Trump signaled he could try to stop the ban on TikTok in the US as the deadline looms - marking a change in tune from his first term.
'We'll take a look at TikTok,' Trump said in response to a reporter question while speaking in Mar-a-Lago.
'I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points,' the 78-year-old claimed. 'There are those who say TikTok had something to do with that.'
Hours after Trump's comments, a source familiar confirmed with DailyMail.com that the president-elect was set to meet with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
President-elect Donald Trump signaled he could try to stop the ban on TikTok in the US as the deadline looms
What else could happen next?
While some people have voiced an interest in buying TikTok's US business - among them 'Shark Tank' star Kevin O´Leary - there are a number of challenges.
It's important to note that China's Commerce Ministry would have to approve ByteDance's divestiture from TikTok, and the Chinese government has indicated its strong opposition to the sale.
Big tech companies could afford it but would likely face intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators in both the US and China.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick - who helped broker the $69 billion sale of his company to Microsoft in 2023 - may have the resources to buy the Chinese app and the technological know how in order to create a new algorithm for it.
Kotick floated the idea of buying TikTok in March 2024 to numerous people at a dinner, the Wall Street Journal reported, with one of them being OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Beyond Altman's $2 billion net worth, he is an attractive partner in the bid to acquire TikTok because he could give the eventual US version of the app a head start in training its AI models.
