TikTok Ban to be Reviewed by Supreme Court Ahead of Trump Innauguration

Key Takeaways

• TikTok has lost an appeal to overturn a law that would force the company to sell the platform or face being banned.
• However, during the election campaign, Donald Trump said he would “save TikTok in America.”
• Trump kickstarted the U.S. government’s efforts to ban TikTok with an executive order in 2020.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Wednesday, Dec. 18, to hear an appeal by TikTok that seeks to block a law intended to force the app’s sale by parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban.

The Justices will hear arguments on Jan. 10, just days before the ban is set to take effect, and President-Elect Trump’s inauguration could alter TikTok’s fate

Supreme Court to Hear TikTok Appeal

In a court document  submitted on Dec. 9, TikTok requested an emergency injunction that would prevent the platform from being banned while it petitions the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision.

“Absent such relief, the Act will take effect on Jan. 19, shutting down “one of the Nation’s most popular speech platforms” on the eve of a presidential inauguration,” the notice read.

“Before that happens, the Supreme Court should have an opportunity, as the only court with appellate jurisdiction over this action, to decide whether to review this exceptionally important case.”

Moreover, TikTok argued that such an injunction is appropriate because “it will give the incoming Administration time to determine its position, which could moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review.”

In its response, the Justice Department said  the court should not delay the law’s effective date due to the pressing national security threat posed by Chinese control of the TikTok application.

Although a federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s bid to block the law, the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the company’s case provides it with a potential lifeline.

If the Supreme Court grants a temporary suspension of the bill, it would buy TikTok valuable time while it awaits a more friendly administration in the White House.

Trump Meets With TikTok CEO

Despite previously taking a hawkish position on the app, President-Elect Donald Trump has signaled that he has a “warm spot” for TikTok and even met CEO Shou Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Dec. 16.

Although details of the meeting between Trump and Shou were not disclosed, during a press conference the same day Trump said: “We’ll take a look at TikTok,” Business Insider reported . “You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” he added.

Trump also observed that company executives have been more open to meeting with him ahead of his second term than during his first term when they were “hostile” toward him.

How Donald Trump Flipped on TikTok

Before the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the U.S. government first attempted to ban TikTok in 2020.

Arguing that the U.S. “must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” Trump’s ‘Executive Order  Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok’ was conceived in 2020 to force ByteDance to sell the platform.

However, after the Chinese firm was granted a court injunction halting the ban, Trump was unable to follow through on his threat before he left office, at which point the order was revoked by Biden.

Despite being a vocal critic of the platform during his first term, Trump has significantly softened his rhetoric since.

“For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump,” he said  earlier this year, warning that “the other side’s closing it up.”

Back in 2020, TikTok users speculated that Trump’s threatened ban was less about national security and more about exacting vengeance on a platform where he was frequently ridiculed.

But in his own words, Trump is “now a big star on TikTok,” a statement he used to justify his change of heart.

Incidentally, as Trumpism has made inroads with younger voters and found a support base outside of Truth Social and X, the president-elect has also somewhat warmed to Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.

Options To Prevent Ban

The incoming president has several options if he wants to prevent Congress’ TikTok ban from taking effect.

One way would be to use his influence over the Republican-controlled legislature to push for an alternative. For example, Congress could empower him to negotiate a different arrangement without backtracking on the law’s stated national security aims.

Trump could also instruct the Justice Department to drop or modify its defense in the lawsuit with ByteDance.

Trump’s Cabinet Is Anti-TikTok

Another factor that could affect TikTok’s fate in the U.S. is the hawkish stance on China taken by many of Trump’s cabinet picks.

For example, his nominee for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, called the proposed ban a “win for America” earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, advocated for a TikTok ban in Project 2025, where he warned  that it provides Beijing “with an opportunity to run a foreign influence campaign by determining the news and information that the app feeds to millions of Americans.”

Trump’s selection for CIA Director John Ratcliffe has also been highly critical of TikTok, as have Doug Burgum and Kristi Noem, his nominees for Interior Secretary and Homeland Security Secretary.