As TikTok’s last-ditch attempt to stall a US ban falls through, users flocking to its Chinese alternative are experiencing issues.
The US Supreme Court has announced its decision to uphold the country’s law that will see TikTok banned from Sunday (19 January) unless sold by its parent company, ByteDance.
In a unanimous decision, the highest court in the US judicial system determined that the national security concerns posed by ByteDance’s relationship with China – and the app’s access to US user data – outweighed concerns about speech limitations, adding that the law does “not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights”.
The Supreme Court reached this decision after TikTok and its owner ByteDance made an emergency appeal last month, arguing that the US Congress had “enacted a massive and unprecedented speech restriction” with its move, calling itself one of the country’s “most popular and important venues for communication”.
Now, all roads point to the ban taking place this weekend, as president-elect Donald Trump – who recently professed support for the app – prepares to take office on Monday. Recent reports suggesting a potential sale to Elon Musk were also shut down by TikTok, calling the reports “pure fiction”.
“Whether this law will succeed in achieving its ends, I do not know. A determined foreign adversary may just seek to replace one lost surveillance application with another,” read a statement by justice Neil Gorsuch.
“But the question we face today is not the law’s wisdom, only its constitutionality. All I can say is that, at this time and under these constraints, the problem appears real and the response to it not unconstitutional.
“Speaking with and in favour of a foreign adversary is one thing. Allowing a foreign adversary to spy on Americans is another,” added Gorsuch.
News of the court’s decision has been met with some disappointment.
In a statement to SiliconRepublic.com, Forrester principal analyst Kelsey Chickering labelled the ban as “incredibly disruptive to the creator and influencer community”.
“TikTok is the place where culture happens, where trends are made, where songs take off, where books go viral, where people shop. And it’s where over a million creators have invested in making content and amassing a following that many of them have effectively monetised.
“If access to TikTok simply disappears, they will have to pivot and re-build their followings, equity and content on other platforms – likely Instagram and YouTube,” she said. “It’s a reminder to the creator community that social media platforms can come and go, and diversified content distribution is critical.”
Wrong note for RedNote?
Meanwhile, Chinese alternative RedNote is maintaining its top position on US app store charts as former TikTok users continue to flock to the social media. However, some users appear to be running into issues concerning strict Chinese censorship rules.
Reports indicate that a number of users are becoming frustrated with the app’s censorship policies, with one user identifying as non-binary telling CNN that they were censored by the app after publishing a post on Tuesday asking if the platform welcomed gay people. According to the user, the post was taken down within hours.
With RedNote’s rise in popularity, concerns similar to that of TikTok are being raised about the platform, with an unnamed US official telling CBS News that RedNote could face a similar ultimatum as TikTok.
“This appears to be the kind of app that the statute would apply to and could face the same restrictions as TikTok if it’s not divested,” said the official, speaking to the US publication.
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