STORY: U.S. Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban ahead of looming deadline
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 17, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 18, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:01
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of exterior of the U.S. Supreme Court
2. various of TikTok poster on display
3. various of exterior of TikTok U.S. Headquarters

STORYLINE:

U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company or the popular app would face a ban starting on Sunday, one day before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

"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," the court's ruling said.

"We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights," the court said, adding that the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.

The court was referring to a judgment in December, when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. dismissed TikTok's claim that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million U.S. users.

TikTok then asked the Supreme Court to block the law, arguing that it will shutter one of America's most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration, and "silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern."

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, Biden is unlikely to enforce a ban on TikTok, leaving the decision to the incoming Donald Trump administration, according to U.S. media reports on Thursday citing White House officials.

Trump recently urged the Supreme Court to delay the TikTok ban to allow time for a negotiated solution.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Washington D.C.
(XHTV)