What happens next for TikTok in the U.S.
TikTok’s U.S. operations are one step closer to being banned or sold.
On Friday, December 6th, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC announced its ruling affirming that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, must divest its U.S. operations by January 19th, 2025, or face a ban in the United States.
In this newsletter, we’ll explore what the recent ruling means and what happens next for TikTok, the 170 million Americans who use it, and for The People’s Bid to potentially buy it.
// Last Friday's ruling
On Friday, the Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. law signed in April of this year that required TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the video-streaming social app to a non-Chinese company next month or be banned in the U.S.
Last May, TikTok sued to block the law, arguing that it unfairly singled out the platform and infringed on the free speech of its 170 million American users.
The three judges unanimously denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law, concluding that:
- The law was designed to address the control of a widely used platform “by a foreign adversary.”
- The law did not infringe on the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment.
“The government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States,” the judges wrote on Friday.
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"This is a landmark decision not only for the future of the platform, but also for the movement for online privacy and safety, which millions of Americans want and deserve."
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// Backstory
For years, American lawmakers and intelligence officials have raised concerns that TikTok’s U.S. operations pose a national security threat, given the potential affiliation between ByteDance and the Chinese government. Officials across both sides of the aisle had two primary concerns:
- ByteDance could share (or be forced to share) sensitive user data of Americans with the Chinese government, as part of a surveillance campaign.
- The Chinese government could influence TikTok’s algorithm to spread pro-Chinese propaganda across the platform. The Chinese propaganda machine on other social media platforms is well-documented.
When the law was signed by President Biden in April, it represented the first time the U.S. passed a law that could trigger the ban of a social media platform. Of note, Facebook, YouTube, and X are banned in China.
// Implications for TikTok
Yesterday, TikTok asked the same Appeals Court to temporarily pause its ruling while the Supreme Court decides whether it will take up the case (TikTok has said it will appeal the ban to the Supreme Court).
If the Court of Appeals does pause the ruling, the required sale or ban of TikTok would be delayed beyond the original date of January 19th. Such a delay would also give the incoming Trump administration time to weigh in on the dispute. TikTok has asked the court to decide on the freeze by next Monday, December 16th.
“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” a spokesman for TikTok said in a statement.
Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University and a Project Liberty Fellow, believes the Supreme Court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court, not wanting to see this app go dark on Jan. 19, will freeze the law, and then this gets handed over to the Trump administration and a Trump Department of Justice to figure out what they want to do,” he said.
Gautam Hans, the Associate Director of the First Amendment Clinic and professor at Cornell Law School, has a different point of view. “I am skeptical that the Supreme Court will take this case. They were pretty careful to write the opinion in a way that makes it less likely the Supreme Court would grant a review, and I think part of that has to do with the national security implications here… the court was really willing to take those claims seriously.”
It’s unclear how a Trump Administration might treat the case; President-elect Trump, who expressed concern during his first term about TikTok’s threat to national security, said recently that a TikTok ban would make young people “go crazy” and give Meta’s social media platforms an advantage.
ByteDance, which has indicated it doesn't have any plans to sell the platform, hopes that an appeal to the Supreme Court or the Trump Administration will overturn the law.
// Implications for American Users
A ban of TikTok would shut the platform down for American users, and many are not happy about it. For its nearly two hundred million users, the platform has become a part of daily life, and the cultural engine of the internet.
Katie Wolf, a 38-year-old book editor in Charleston, South Carolina, posted a TikTok video on Friday, where she said, “I’m, like, shaking—I’m so mad, I’m so anxious, because TikTok changed my life.” She said she finds 80% of her clients through the app.
For individuals who rely on the platform as a source of business, a means of expression, and a platform for an online community, the national security concerns don’t outweigh those very personal benefits.
But some online creators are hedging their bets. Steve Natto, a creator who sports sneaker content, said he posts regularly on eight different social media platforms. While he doesn’t want TikTok to be banned, he’s trying to grow followers on new platforms like Bluesky.
According to Pew Research, the share of Americans who support the U.S. government banning TikTok is 32%—down from 38% in the fall of 2023 and 50% in March 2023.
// Implications for The People's Bid
Project Liberty’s Founder, Frank McCourt, issued a statement after Friday's ruling affirming Project Liberty’s readiness to move forward with The People’s Bid to acquire the platform.
“Today, the justice system made their vision for America's digital future clear. This is a landmark decision not only for the future of the platform, but also for the movement for online privacy and safety, which millions of Americans want and deserve. Now that the Court has spoken, The People's Bid is prepared to move forward with our bid for TikTok—which brings together a wide network of supporters and experts across policy, technology, and civil society committed to preserving the platform's rich creative community, while also protecting the personal information of millions of Americans. We are going to rebuild TikTok and prove that it's possible to enjoy the internet without sacrificing our privacy and safety."
Instead of an all-out ban, The People’s Bid for TikTok would allow Americans to keep using the app while keeping the user experience intact.
The vision will empower individuals to have greater control over their online experience, one where people can choose their own algorithm and maintain control over their data and what content they want to engage with.
As the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case and the new Administration determines how to treat the possible ban, The People’s Bid remains ready.
As the potential ban or sale moves forward, we will continue to share more information. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts on what you think should happen next.
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