What's Next Now That the Supreme Court Has Upheld the TikTok Ban

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If you’ve been on TikTok over the past few days, you’ve no doubt witnessed your favorite creators saying their goodbyes and telling you where you can find them next. With Congress' impending ban on the social media app set to take effect in the U.S. on Sunday, it seems like there’s little the platform’s users can do. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that it is upholding the ban, citing Congress' concerns over Chinese access to American user data—but that might not be the end of the story.

The Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban

In a per curiam opinion posted Friday morning, the Supreme Court decided to uphold the TikTok ban that's set to remove the platform from app stores starting Sunday, Jan. 19. The move marks the heaviest blow yet to the hope that the app could continue operating as usual, but despite acknowledging that "TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression" for "more than 170 million Americans," the Court ultimately decided to stand by Congress' "well-supported national security concerns."

However, the opinion did offer one silver lining for users as they flee to other apps. While acknowledging that TikTok represents "new technologies with transformative capabilities," the court cautioned that its ruling should be "understood to be narrowly focused," rather than serving as precedent for future cases. The justices also argued that their reasoning is "content neutral," attempting to ease concerns that the real reason behind the TikTok ban might be what users are seeing rather than how their data is being handled.

Will TikTok shut down?

Technically, the terms of TikTok's ban don't require the site to shut down operation in the U.S., but rather keeps its app from being distributed by app stores. In this state, new users couldn't download the app, while it would slowly become unusable over time for everyone else. Overall, then, the loss of the platform would be a more gradual transition. However, reports say that TikTok is willing to go a step further, threatening to shut down altogether as a sort of nuclear option to protest the ban now that it's been upheld. (It's also been pumping up its alternative video app Lemon8, although the TikTok ban would presumably affect this platform as well.)

The idea, it seems, is to play chicken with the government. American users have already shown their willingness to use similar Chinese app Xiaohongshu (or RedNote) as a replacement-for-TikTok-slash-act-of-protest, and TikTok users in particular have been quick to shut down the possibility of moving to Instagram reels or other American alternatives. In taking the app away from these users entirely, TikTok might be able to spur them into political action (don't be surprised if opening the TikTok app on Sunday prompts you to call your representatives).

Essentially, TikTok parent company Bytedance seemingly doesn't seem willing to sell to an American company, which is the only way the current ban would allow TikTok to keep operating. Overcoming the Supreme Court is a tough job, but in swaying public opinion towards its side, the company seems to be looking to do just that.

In fact, it's already seen some success, as key government officials across both aisles have already expressed desire to backpedal on Congress' legislation.

Biden leaving enforcing the ban up to a TikTok-friendly Trump

Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, reports were split on whether Biden would take any steps to circumvent the ban. Now, the White House has issued an official statement that it is leaving responsibility for enforcing the ban to incoming President Donald Trump.

"Given the sheer fact of timing," the statement reads, acknowledging the unusual position the ban's implementation places on Biden's White House a day before he leaves office, "this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration."

The statement also reiterated Biden's opinion that TikTok should remain available but under American ownership. However, in leaving responsibility for enforcing the ban up to President Trump, it does seem to give the incoming administration free reign to decide how the law is actually implemented—it's possible (though unlikely) that TikTok could even continue to be distributed on Sunday without retribution.

It's perhaps good news for TikTok users, then, that President Trump has already vocally expressed his opposition to the ban, and reports indicate he's ready to act to stop it. The Washington Post says Trump is considering penning an executive order that would delay the ban’s enforcement by 60 to 90 days. Even with Biden's blessing to decide what to do next, such an extreme measure would perhaps be Trump’s only play here, as the ban is still legally set to go into effect one day before he takes office. Trump's stance marks a similar change in attitude to President Biden's: during his first term, Trump signed an executive order that attempted to force TikTok to shut down operations in the U.S., something the company avoided by partnering with U.S.-based company Oracle to protect the data of American users.

A last ditch bill to save TikTok (for now)

Realistically, the most stable way to get the ban struck down would be for the members of Congress who voted for it to change their minds. The biggest governmental backpedal we’ve seen on the TikTok ban so far—or at least the biggest one that doesn’t rely on hearsay and anonymous sources—would be a new bill from Democratic Senator Ed Markey. Introduced this week, Markey's bill would have extended the deadline for the ban by 270 days, giving TikTok more time to find a buyer or provide lawmakers an opportunity to reevaluate the situation. Unfortunately, it was quickly struck down by Republican lawmakers, but the reasoning behind it does show that at least parts of Congress are beginning to waver.

“In four days, TikTok goes dark,” Markey said while introducing the legislation. “My bill just says, we need more time.”

As part of his justification for the bill, Markey argued that TikTok has been “central to our economy and the way in which we communicate,” arguing that the communities its creators and small businesses have established there “cannot be replicated on another app.”

“We need time to have a deeper conversation about how to address the national security risks caused by Bytedance’s ownership of TikTok.” Markey continued. “We need time to understand the ban’s implication on TikTok’s creators and users. We need time to consider alternative ideas.”

This bill also marked something of a change in attitude from Markey, who originally spoke out against banning the platform but nonetheless voted for the current ban—although it should be noted that the ban was included in a bill also providing aid to Ukraine and Israel. 

For his part, in a post on X, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to continue "working to keep TikTok alive," even in the face of Republican opposition.

Support for the ban remains

While politicians across both aisles and two branches of government have now spoken about reversing or delaying the ban, some in government are sticking to their original decision.

“They had all the time in the world,” Republican Senator Rick Scott said. “They’ve had an opportunity to sell it to make sure the Chinese government doesn’t control it and they decided not to do that.”

Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who led the charge on blocking Markey's bill, said, "We didn't pull the rug out from under TikTok, and we didn't ban it. Instead, Congress simply demanded that the app could no longer be owned and controlled by our nation's worst enemy, communist China."

For now, all eyes are on Trump, who takes office on Monday. Hopeful viewers include even TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who will be present at Trump's inauguration and has already posted a video preemptively thanking Trump "for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States." This kind of signaling could just be wishful thinking, or it could indicate that while there's little Trump can do to keep the ban from going into effect on Sunday, we could see some quick action just one day later. As Trump told CNN shortly after the Supreme Court's decision went through, "It ultimately goes up to me, so you're going to see what I'm going to do."

But even if legal pressure from the highest office in the land fails to bring back your favorite influencers, there's also the question of public opinion. Depending on how TikTok responds to the Supreme Court's decision, Americans could have a very different response to the ban. With enough public fervor, it's possible we'll see more attempts from either Congress or the presidency to keep this saga from being finished quite yet.

Update 4:30 PM ET: Updated this post with a video from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.