The Biden administration on Friday maintained that it will not actively enforce a federal law set to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, instead punting any action to the incoming Trump administration.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling earlier in the day upholding the looming ban, which is set to go into effect on Sunday.
‘The Administration, like the rest of the country, has awaited the decision just made by the U.S. Supreme Court on the TikTok matter. President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement shortly after the decision was handed down.
She added: ‘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.’
A U.S. official told the Associated Press on Thursday that Biden would not enforce the ban that is set to take effect the day before he is to leave office. Such a move inadvertently leaves the social media app’s fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration.
‘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,’ the Supreme Court wrote in its unsigned Friday ruling. ‘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.’
The court continued: ‘For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.’
Just last year, Congress required that TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance divest the company by Jan. 19. The law was subsequently signed by Biden.
When the law was passed, Congress specifically noted concerns over the app’s Chinese ownership, which members said meant the app had the potential to be weaponized or used to amass vast amounts of user data, including from the roughly 170 million Americans who use TikTok.
During oral arguments, Biden administration lawyers argued that the app’s Chinese ownership posed a ‘grave’ national security risk to American users. TikTok’s lawyers, on the other hand, argued that such a ban restricted free speech protections under the First Amendment.
First Amendment challenges must be analyzed under strict scrutiny, which places a higher burden of proof on the government when attempting to justify the constitutionality of a law. In this case, the First Amendment protections in question must be crafted to serve a compelling government interest, narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
