Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban as Trump Says 'Stay Tuned'

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to sell the social-media platform or face a ban in the U.S., raising the prospect that the app goes “dark” Sunday for its 170 million users in the country.

A law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April required that TikTok's Chinese parent company divest the short-video site or it would not be allowed to operate in the U.S. on national security grounds. 

However, the Biden administration on Friday said it wouldn't take steps to enforce the law, leaving it to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to implement the ban.

“As of January 19, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will make it unlawful for companies in the United States to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update the social media platform TikTok, unless U. S. operation of the platform is severed from Chinese control,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. 

Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Play Store and Apple's (AAPL) App Store won't be able to offer TikTok to users in the U.S. after Sunday's deadline, and the app could go "dark" for U.S.-based users.

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

In a post on his Truth Social platform Friday, Trump said he would "respect" the Supreme Court decision. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” he said.

Earlier Friday, Trump also said he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping on a wide variety of topics, including the fate of TikTok. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects,” he said in Truth Social post.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in a TikTok video Friday said “I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States."

Though Chinese officials would reportedly prefer TikTok stays under the control of ByteDance, a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to Elon Musk has been under consideration as a potential response if the ban takes effect in the U.S., according to reports earlier this week.

Wedbush analysts, who anticipated the Supreme Court would uphold the law ahead of the decision Friday, wrote that they “believe the Trump Administration is working aggressively to set the stage for a deal. They estimate that a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations could be valued in the $40 billion to $50 billion range.

UPDATE: This article has been updated since it was first published to include addition news and context.

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