US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, leaving app's fate to Trump

The Tik Tok Logo is displayed on a billboard at Times Square in New York City on January 17, 2025. The US Supreme Court on January 17 upheld a law that will ban TikTok in the United States, potentially denying the video-sharing app to 170 million users in less than two days. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The Supreme Court upheld on Friday (Jan 17) a law banning TikTok in the United States on national security grounds if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it, putting the popular short-video app on track to go dark in just two days.

The court's 9-0 decision throws the social media platform - and its 170 million American users - into limbo, and its fate in the hands of Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescue TikTok after returning to the presidency on Monday (Jan 20).