Supreme Court rules to uphold TikTok ban, setting the stage for U.S. users to lose access Sunday

The Supreme Court has upheld the law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok by Sunday or face an effective ban of the popular social video app in the U.S.

ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many U.S. users could lose access to the app this weekend. The app may still work for those who already have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut the app down.

The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which President Joe Biden signed in April.

Under the terms of the law, third-party internet service providers like Apple and Google will be penalized for supporting a ByteDance-owned TikTok after the Jan. 19 deadline.

If internet service providers and app store owners comply, they will remove TikTok from their respective app stores, preventing users from downloading TikTok or installing the necessary updates that make the app functional.

TikTok's fate in the U.S. now lies in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who in December asked the Supreme Court to pause the law's implementation and allow his administration "the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case."

Trump will be inaugurated on Monday, one day after the TikTok deadline for a sale. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of several tech leaders expected to be in attendance, seated on the dais. 

In December, members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in which they urged the executives to begin preparing to comply with the law and reminded them of their duties as app store operators.

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