A child with their phone in their hands is lying at home in bed. The social media app, Tiktok, is loaded on the screen. By Natalia/stock.adobe.com
In 2024, when Congress announced they would force ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, to sell the social media app or face a “ban,” most TikTok users balked. Trump tried to push a similar bill through during his first term, and it didn’t work (he has since reversed his position).
Perhaps TikTok’s saving grace would be a First Amendment defense: they can’t legally be shut down because their platform is a form of free speech. Maybe, TikTok users thought, they would sell to a US company after all. Either way, most TikTok users saw the removal of the colossal app as unthinkable.
However, as the January 19th deadline to sell approaches, the Supreme Court seems to favor the government’s argument, that the “ban” is not unconstitutional. What does this mean for TikTok users? What will happen to the “ban” if ByteDance doesn’t sell in time?
Why does Congress want to “ban” TikTok?
Congress wants to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company or else be blocked from app stores. As Nathan Allen wrote for Denison Forum in 2023, “The primary fear is that TikTok may be obligated to hand over sensitive data to the Chinese government should it be requested. Similarly, the company could use the platform to spread misinformation or pro-Chinese ideologies to its users.”
Although TikTok repeatedly denied providing sensitive information to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), American lawmakers were unconvinced. With 1 billion active users every month, TikTok represents a powerful influence on culture, especially among young people, who make up most of its users.
Most US journalists, analysts, and lawmakers seem to agree that, certainly in theory, the CCP could demand TikTok spy for the Chinese government—whether it’s happened already is a questionable matter. The mere risk of such abuse justifies the “ban” in the minds of US lawmakers. The bill passed in 2024 with bipartisan support.
TikTok’s Supreme Court argument
SCOTUS is fast-tracking the case in light of the pending deadline. On January 10, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from the Solicitor General and ByteDance’s lawyers. The Justices could either quickly rule on the act’s constitutionality, or simply deny TikTok’s request to pause the deadline so it could make more extensive arguments in the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the Justices, “appeared generally unconvinced by TikTok’s main argument, that the law violates the free speech rights of its millions of individual users in the U.S.”
Lawyers representing TikTok and its users argued that limiting their free speech isn’t justified because the government hasn’t shown a real risk of genuine harm. The app’s representation further argued that even if ByteDance spread misinformation and foreign propaganda through TikTok, the law cannot target it because that would be unconstitutionally blocking free speech based on the speech’s content.
In contrast, the government’s lawyer, the solicitor general, pointed out that “All of the same speech that’s happening on TikTok could happen post-divestiture.” In other words, because it’s technically not a ban, but forcing them to sell the company, it means that the law is not targeting pro-China, anti-American content. All the act does is “surgically remove” China’s ability to harvest data and manipulate the platform.
What will happen to the TikTok app if the “ban” continues?
Such a so-called “ban” is unprecedented in the US, so what would it actually look like? There are two likely scenarios.
First, the app may go completely dark for users in America. A notice might appear that says, “’This service is not available in your country.” This happened when India banned the app in 2020.
On the other hand, some experts say “TikTok might not become inaccessible overnight, but rather that the user experience in the U.S. will degrade over time.” The app will disappear from the Google and Apple App stores, and anyone with the app already downloaded will still be able to use it, but won’t be able to update it. That means, over time, the app will become less secure and degrade as the phone’s software changes. Without updates to the app, TikTok will eventually become unusable.
Of course, ByteDance could still sell TikTok to a US company in the final days and pause the deadline to finish a deal, or SCOTUS may make a surprising ruling in favor of TikTok. While these are possibilities, they seem unlikely, and what seemed unthinkable a year ago is on the horizon for around 150 million US users.
“The days are evil”
Whichever way it happens, independent TikTok creators and small businesses that depend on the app will desperately switch to other platforms. Young users could take the opportunity to cut back on the time spent using such apps—US users spend an average of an hour a day on TikTok—though, this hopeful outcome seems naive.
The new age of cutting-edge social media strategy, using short videos selected by an algorithm to keep you scrolling, won’t go away. Meta and YouTube began copying TikTok years ago. TikTok uses perhaps the most addictive algorithm of them all, but the alternatives are nevertheless effective.
Social media, full of decontextualized, superficial content, designed similarly to slot machines, plays a powerful role in Satan’s apparent plan to make modern folks waste their lives. In light of Christ’s mission for our lives, we should listen to Paul’s charge: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
How will you make the best use of your time, today?
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