LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The fate of the popular app TikTok is still up in the air after the U.S. Supreme Court did not issue an opinion Wednesday on the federal law that bans it.
Unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise, the ban will take effect Sunday, Jan. 19. Jeff Chandler, founder and CEO of Z-JAK Technologies, said the main concern is national security.
“Do they care about your dance videos? No, but they might care about other things on your background, your likes, your dislikes, those sorts of things that that they could use against you," Chandler said.
"A lot of people, especially younger people who've grown up with computers, are just used to surrendering all of their privacy and they don't really think about it. "A lot of people, especially younger people who've grown up with computers, are just used to surrendering all of their privacy and they don't really think about it. But when you think about how much data you give up to Facebook, it's not just TikTok. It's Facebook; it's Instagram."
The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk because of its connection with China. Officials have said Chinese authorities can compel TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to hand over information on the app's users in the U.S.
TikTok has said those concerns are overblown and the law should be struck down because it violates the First Amendment. Chandler said it's possible that if TikTok was owned by another country, the app could be OK.
“The U.S. is to divest of this business and sell it to somebody outside of control of the Chinese government," Chandler said. "That's the ask. If ByteDance refuses to do that, that's telling us something about what's really going on."
Chandler said many TikTok users are switching and moving to another Chinese-owned app, RedNote, but added users will have the same issue. What comes along with the TikTok media platform diminishing will affect many users who depend on it.
“There's lots of content creators that are on there that are making a living that way," Chandler said. "They're going to have to find another platform that will be in compliance with these walls to go forward."
"It's really unfortunate for these business owners who are going to potentially lose their livelihood because of this."
The measure is set to take effect Sunday, Jan. 19, one day before a second term begins for President-elect Donald Trump, who has more than 14 million followers on the app, according to the Associated Press.
Trump filed court documents, asking the Supreme Court to put the law on hold so that he could negotiate a deal for the sale of TikTok after he takes office.