The Supreme Court ruled on TikTok — and nobody knows what comes next

Now that TikTok has finally reached the end of its legal options in the US to avoid a ban, somehow its future seems less clear than ever.

The Supreme Court couldn’t have been more direct: the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to TikTok, withstands First Amendment scrutiny and can take effect on January 19th. The court agreed that the government had a compelling national security interest in passing the law and that its rationale was content neutral. The solution proposed — forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest TikTok or see it ousted from the US — was ruled appropriately tailored to meet those ends.

Yet the government’s response hardly feels like a victory lap. In fact, despite being still under ByteDance’s control, it’s not clear that anyone in the US government will even act like TikTok is banned on the 19th.

“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 after the Supreme Court ruling today. “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.” In other words, President-elect Donald Trump will get the TikTok ban dumped in his lap, and enforcement will be up to him.

Justice Department officials issued their own confounding statements after the ruling. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the Supreme Court for letting the Justice Department “prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.” But Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time.”

Trump, who at one point promised to “save” TikTok (albeit with scant detail), said before the ruling on Friday that he had a “very good” call with China’s President Xi Jinping, including discussions about the app. After the ruling dropped, he wrote on Truth Social, “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation.” Not exactly a resoundingly firm promise.

A flurry of articles this week suggested Chinese officials are at least beginning to entertain the idea of selling the app, even reportedly floating the idea of recruiting Elon Musk to buy it or help broker a deal. But those reports were based on unnamed officials, and so far, we’ve heard nothing from the Chinese government or ByteDance to suggest they’re seriously taking steps toward a sale.

Meanwhile, app stores and service providers — which are ostensibly banned from supporting TikTok starting on Sunday — have been quiet about their plans. Apple and Google, whose app stores support TikTok, and Oracle, which hosts its data in the US, didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Verge. In his first statement since the ruling, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew gave no insight into how TikTok would handle Sunday’s deadline and instead opted to flatter Trump.

TikTok has reportedly planned to go dark on Sunday, should the law take effect, regardless of what actions other companies take. So, in the end, the only party still committed to the TikTok ban deadline might turn out to be TikTok itself.

Whatever TikTok is planning, at this point, there are only a few remaining options:

• President Joe Biden could instruct the Justice Department not to enforce the law on the final day of his presidency — which his administration is heavily hinting is its chosen path. Trump could do the same thing once he takes over on Monday. This would leave US companies at risk of fines of up to $5,000 per user who access TikTok through their services since the law will still be on the books and could eventually be enforced.
• Biden could exercise a 90-day extension built into the law. This technically can only happen if TikTok makes some progress toward a deal, which could leave the government open to legal challenges. Still, some Democratic lawmakers have urged Biden to use this power.
• Congress could pass a new law repealing the original one or formally allowing for an extension, like the bill Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) advocated for this week. But Congress isn’t exactly known for its swiftness.
• ByteDance could agree to a deal that would put at least 80 percent of TikTok under the control of a non-foreign adversary owner, putting the app in compliance with the law. But the company and the Chinese government have publicly repudiated the idea of a sale before — and while there are signs they’re working behind the scenes, it’s unclear how fast a deal could come together.

The US government managed to push a once-unbelievable political proposition mainstream: banning one of the most popular social media services in the country, based partly on national security concerns that have still never been disclosed. But lawmakers and the White House always maintained that their goal was forcing a sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese owner. Instead, the company remained laser-focused on exhausting its legal options — apparently not even engaging much with prospective buyers like billionaire Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty. It remains unclear whether China will be willing to let ByteDance make a sale.

After more than four years of pushing for a TikTok sale or ban, the US government finally got what it asked for but not what it wanted. And in this game of geopolitical chicken, TikTok — whether it likes it or not — seems to have won for now.