3 hours ago TikTok CEO 'thankfully for President Trump's help' as he breaks silence on SCOTUS ruling

The Supreme Court upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company over the risk to national security posed by its ties to China

Politics

6 hours ago US supreme court cites TikTok’s relationship with ‘foreign adversary’ in upholding sale

The supreme court has allowed to go into effect a law that will force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell its US business by Sunday, or face a banUS supreme court issues ruling upholding nationwide ban on TikTokCan Donald Trump circumvent a TikTok ban?Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed reservations about the TikTok sale-or-ban billThough Gorsuch voted to uphold the law, he did not express total certainty in it.There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ first amendment rights. Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago TikTok hopes for Trump intervention after US supreme court upholds US ban

App will become unavailable in US on 19 January, unless Trump directs justice department not to enforce the lawUS politics live – latest updatesThe US supreme court has issued a ruling upholding a nationwide ban on TikTok unless it sells to an owner in the US. The nine justices voted unanimously in a decision on Friday that sides with the majority of the US Congress and the US Department of Justice that the hugely popular social media app is a threat to US national security.“We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” the justices wrote. “The judgment of the United States court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.” In December, a Washington DC appeals court upheld the ban. Continue reading...

Politics

5 hours ago TikTok ban live updates: Trump says he’ll make app decision when in office after supreme court ruling

US supreme court cites TikTok’s relationship with ‘foreign adversary’ China in upholding sale-or-ban lawUS supreme court issues ruling upholding nationwide ban on TikTokCan Donald Trump circumvent a TikTok ban?Donald Trump told CNN that he will decide what to do with TikTok once he takes office, after the supreme court upheld legislation that will ban it on Sunday unless its Chinese owner sells its US operations.“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” Trump said in an interview with the network. Asked if he would try to reverse the ban, should it go into effect, Trump said: “Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision.”It is not clear that the Act itself directly regulates protected expressive activity, or conduct with an expressive component. Indeed, the Act does not regulate the creator petitioners at all Petitioners, for their part, have not identified any case in which this Court has treated a regulation of corporate con...

Politics

34 hours ago TikTok is the only truly democratic social platform. A US ban would rob us all | Sophia Smith Galer

Nothing has challenged Silicon Valley like the Chinese app. Blocking its use in the US would be like stealing half the books in a libraryHow many times in your life can you say that one of the culture-defining platforms of your era is being forcibly removed? This is what will happen to the one third of American adults who use TikTok – and the other two-thirds whose lives have been undoubtedly affected by it – if the US supreme court upholds its ban on the Chinese-owned app, as it is expected to do on 19 January, in the interests of national security.I have spent the last few years researching instances of linguicide, where authoritarian regimes have burned dictionaries, or sent people to prison just for singing a song. I see alarming parallels with the dismantling of TikTok in the US; a ruthless cull of a communication tool that challenges Silicon Valley hegemony and gave the US a serving of what it is allegedly supposed to prize: healthy, full-fat competition.Sophia Smith Galer is ...

Politics