The United States (US) supreme court has ruled in favour of a ban on TikTok, a social media app, effectively forcing it to cease operations within the country.
The ruling stems from deep-seated concerns about national security risks arising from TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government.
Last year, the US congress passed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which mandates ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company and a Chinese-based entity, either cease its operations in the US entirely or divest itself of the app by selling it to a non-Chinese company.
TikTok has consistently maintained its innocence and denied allegations of data collection and manipulation by the Chinese government.
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The company has also argued that the ban constitutes an unjustified infringement upon the First Amendment rights of its vast user base.
The supreme court, in its ruling on Friday, acknowledged TikTok’s role as a vital platform for expression, community, and engagement for 170 million US users.
However, the justices concluded that the potential national security risks necessitated the ban.
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“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the justices said.
“But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
TikTok is yet to issue an official statement regarding the supreme court’s decision.
The ban is set to take effect on January 19, compelling Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores and prohibit web-hosting providers from hosting the app’s services within the US.
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