TikTok Ban: What the Supreme Court Actually Ruled
The nine-month legal battle ended with a ruling that surprised both sides. Here's what it means for 170 million users.
The US Supreme Court upheld the ban on TikTok in a per curiam opinion, ending a nine-month legal battle that captivated Silicon Valley, Capitol Hill, and the 170 million Americans who used the app daily.
What the Court Said
The Court's opinion, while upholding the ban passed by Congress, notably sidestepped the First Amendment questions that made this case so legally significant. The ACLU had argued the government must meet an 'extraordinarily high bar' to ban an entire communications platform.
The ruling effectively forced ByteDance to either sell TikTok's US operations to an American company or face a ban — a decision that sent shockwaves through the tech industry.
What Happened Next
Rather than a simple shutdown, the ban effectively required ByteDance to divest. Oracle and other American investors explored potential deals, though the complexity of valuing a platform with 170 million US users made negotiations contentious.
The TikTok case was never really about one app. It was a test of how far the government could go in restricting speech on foreign-owned platforms.
The Aftermath
Despite the ruling, full enforcement remained complicated. The app continued operating while divestiture talks continued, and legal challenges persisted over whether the enforcement mechanism was constitutional.