Tess

🚨🇺🇸 LAWMAKERS DIVIDED ON SCOTUS UPHOLDING TIKTOK BAN Some lawmakers cheer SCOTUS for "protecting America," while others call it a slippery slope toward censorship. Source: MSNBC

🚨🇺🇸HOW DID WE GET HERE? THE ROAD TO TIKTOK’S U.S. BAN The Supreme Court’s decision to allow TikTok to be banned didn’t happen overnight—here’s how it all unfolded: Last year, U.S. officials ramped up accusations that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, posed a “national security threat,” claiming it could share Americans’ data with the Chinese government. No hard evidence has been made public, but the concern stuck. By June 2024, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a full U.S. ban. ByteDance refused, calling the law unconstitutional and insisting the app doesn’t spy for China. In September 2024, TikTok sued, arguing the ban violated the First Amendment because TikTok is a platform for free expression. The government fired back, claiming the issue was ByteDance’s ownership, not free speech. Lower courts sided with Congress. Now the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Congress, clearing the way for the ban to start Sunday. SCOTUS acknowledged TikTok’s importance to millions of Americans but decided national security concerns outweighed the app’s arguments. Now, TikTok faces a shutdown unless ByteDance sells in a firesale before Sunday or Trump, who takes office Monday, steps in to delay the ban. Is this the end of TikTok in America? Source: CNN