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TikTok ban upheld by US Supreme Court: What happens now?

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TikTok ban upheld by US Supreme Court: What happens now?
Protestors continue to gather outside the Supreme Court in a last-ditch bid to convince lawmakers to listen to their plight

TikTok says it has 170 million users in the US who, on average, spent 51 minutes per day on the app in 2024.

BBC | TikTok is set to be banned in the US on 19 January after the Supreme Court denied a last ditch legal bid from its Chinese owner, ByteDance.

It found the law banning the social media platform did not violate the first amendment rights of TikTok and its 170 million users, as the companies argued.

But will the decision of the country's highest judicial authority actually stop Americans using it?

President-elect Donald Trump says, simply, the future of TikTok is up to him.

And the White House says "given the sheer fact of timing", the process of implementing the law will indeed fall to Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday - the day after the ban comes into effect.

Trump may once have sought to ban TikTok - but he has repeatedly indicated during 2024 that he is now firmly against the law, and tried unsuccessfully to get it delayed.

Despite the court's ruling, in an interview with CNN, he has insisted TikTok's future rests with him - even if he gave no indication of what his decision on the future of the social media platform would be.

On social media he indicated his next steps might take some time to work out.

"The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it," he wrote.

"My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation."

Before that interview he has made it clear however he would be seeking what he previously called a "political solution."

On Friday, just before the court released its ruling, he said he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok, as well as issues around trade.

"It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately," he posted on social media.

And on Thursday Trump's incoming national security advised Mike Waltz told Fox News the president-elect was looking for ways to "preserve" TikTok, saying Americans' access to the platform and their data would be preserved.

"I don't want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we're going to create the space to put that deal in place," Mr Waltz said.

The Biden administration has made clear they will not enforce the law - so another option would be for Trump to follow suit and allow the law to stand but tell the Department of Justice (DoJ) to ignore it.

The government would be effectively telling Apple and Google that they won't be punished for continuing to allow people to download TikTok onto their devices, meaning the law would remain in place but would essentially be redundant.

Obviously, the firms might be uncomfortable about breaking the law even if they've been told it's fine - as it would be effectively requiring them to take the president's word for it that they won't face punishment.

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