The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the TikTok ban. President Biden, however, has decided not to enforce the ban, leaving the ultimate decision of how to handle the app up to President Trump.

From The Hill. The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company to divest from the app, teeing up a ban set to take effect Sunday.

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The justices sided with the Biden administration, finding the divest-or-ban law does not violate the First Amendment just three days before President-elect Trump is set to take office. Trump had urged the justices to delay the deadline so he could negotiate a deal, but the court instead acted with breakneck speed.

However, the Biden administration does not plan to enforce the law ahead of inauguration, ultimately leaving the decision to Trump and seemingly allowing the app to stay online for the time being. …

The court was unanimous in its judgment, although Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch filed separate concurrences.

The law, which was passed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Biden last April, gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 270 days to divest from the app or face a ban from U.S. app stores.

TikTok has argued divestment is not a feasible option and that it will “go dark” as of Sunday. It contended the impending ban infringes on the First Amendment rights of both the company and its 170 million American users.

The court rejected those arguments, instead ruling in favor of the government. The Biden administration asserted that any free speech concerns are superseded by a national security interest over the app’s ties to China, raising alarm that the Chinese government could access Americans’ data or covertly manipulate TikTok’s content algorithm. …

Following Friday’s decision, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized the Biden administration believes TikTok should remain available to Americans, just not under its current ownership. …

The court’s decision deals a significant blow to Trump, who argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that the Supreme Court should put the Jan. 19 deadline on hold so he could attempt to negotiate a deal once in office.

Trump has increasingly expressed sympathy with TikTok as the ban approached. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration, and Trump is reportedly considering signing an executive order to circumvent the ban. The president-elect said Friday that he discussed the fate of TikTok with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a call.

With the Biden administration’s confirmation it will leave enforcement to Trump, the president-elect said Friday that he’ll be “making the decision.”

“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” Trump told CNN …

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(Excerpt from The Hill. Photo Credit: May Gauthier on Unsplash)