The Future of TikTok Could Be Decided This Week

Republicans and Democrats sank ungodly amounts of money into creating content for TikTok this election year, but there’s a chance the app might not be around in the US come next cycle. Or even president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Quickly, a refresher: President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April, creating the state of affairs we find ourselves in today. The law put in place a system that would ban TikTok if the app’s parent company, Bytedance, didn’t sell to a US-based owner by January 19, 2025. Once that deadline rolls around, the president can decide to extend it an additional 90 days. We’re supposed to find out by tomorrow if a federal appeals court will uphold the law requiring Bytedance to sell off its stake.

Soon, we’ll know whether the court will strike down the ban bill or if TikTok’s fate is left in the Trump administration’s hands.

Right now, two things stand in the way of this ban going into effect. First, the deadline. And second, a lawsuit. Shortly after the bill became law, TikTok sued the US government for violating the free speech protections of the company and its users by, effectively, banning the app. That’s the decision we’re waiting on this week.

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There are a few different outcomes that could play out. The court could agree with TikTok’s arguments and strike down the law on First Amendment grounds. If that were to happen, TikTok would be safe unless the Justice Department decides to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court or the full DC circuit. Even if the feds appealed, it could take months or years before the justices take up the case, leaving us in an even lengthier limbo.

The court could also uphold the law, setting TikTok up for an outright ban. But if the court sides with the Justice Department, the incoming Trump administration may still find a way to keep the app around.

In September, Trump posted to Truth Social, saying “FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!” (caps his, not mine). “I’m a big star on TikTok,” he said in the attached video. It was an odd statement coming from the man who was the first president who tried to ban the app. But according to The Washington Post, the Trump administration now plans to find a way to halt any ban of TikTok once the president-elect takes office, though it hasn’t announced any official plans.

Trump warmed up to TikTok over the course of the election year, promising to protect the beloved app. One of the TikTok’s biggest investors, billionaire Jeff Yass, was also one of Trump’s biggest donors. He also used it to his advantage: Over the summer, Trump joined TikTok and racked up millions of followers and collabs with popular streamers that played a huge role in his campaign’s appeal to young voters. His many podcast appearances with people like Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys, and Andrew Schultz were also clipped and shared in bite-size pieces throughout the app.

More than 170 million Americans use TikTok, according to the most recent numbers shared by the company. Only 32 percent of Americans support a TikTok ban, according to a recent Pew survey. When a similar study was conducted in May 2023, 50 percent of Americans supported it.

Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20, the day after the deadline to give TikTok more time to find a buyer. I’d bet that Biden would decide to extend it, making TikTok’s future Trump’s problem, but the current president hasn’t given any signals on what he could do. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED.

While Trump may have won TikTok this cycle, Democrats don’t see the app as a lost cause. In fact, the Democratic strategists I’ve spoken to have argued that a presence on the app is more necessary than ever.

“I’m against the ban. Not only will it hurt us with younger voters, it will eliminate a channel where Democrats can compete to get their message out,” says Ryan Davis, cofounder and chief operating officer at People First, a political influencer and relational marketing firm that partnered with the Biden and Harris campaigns. “Trump may have won TikTok in 2024, but it’s a channel Democrats demographically should be highly competitive on.”

I genuinely have no idea whether TikTok will come out on top this week. When oral arguments were presented in September, the judges didn’t sound too sold on the idea that the law was, well, unlawful. More likely than not, we’ll still be stuck in this limbo of not knowing whether we’ll be able to scroll and watch important and groundbreaking content like this.

The Chatroom

What do you think? Is there still reason to believe TikTok poses a threat to US national security? Even if that’s true, is this bill the best way to protect the app’s US users from foreign surveillance? Personally, I’ve always thought the law was a dud. If the Chinese government really wanted my data, they could easily buy it off some shady broker online.

Send your thoughts to mail@wired.com.

WIRED Reads

• FTC Says Data Brokers Unlawfully Tracked Protesters and US Military Personnel: Last month, WIRED reported that data brokers were selling sweeping geolocation information on Americans, including military service members. The Federal Trade Commission took action on the two companies this week, banning them from selling "sensitive" location data in the future.
• Ireland Rejected the Far Right. The Election Conspiracy Theories Have Already Begun: Ireland was one of the dozens of countries that held elections this year. Not a single far-right candidate won their race, and of course, they now think their elections were rigged.
• Bluesky Now Has 24 Million Users. Jay Graber Is Still Vowing to Keep It From Enshittification: Bluesky has become a safe haven for lapsed tweeters fleeing from Elon Musk’s X. Speaking with my colleague Kate Knibbs this week, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber promised not to mess up the nascent platform.

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What Else We’re Reading

🔗 Six Hours Under Martial Law in Seoul: Verge editor Sarah Jeong found herself in the middle of history this week when visiting Seoul. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, she witnessed protests against martial law … incredibly blitzed. (The Verge)

🔗 How the Supreme Court’s Transgender Care Case Could Reverberate Across Health Care: The Supreme Court heard arguments in United States v. Skrmetti on Wednesday that could determine the future of trans health care in America. It could also have trickle down effects on other health care issues like abortion rights. (Stat)

🔗 Professor Apologizes for Using Fake AI-Generated Citations in Defense of Minnesota’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law: Minnesota is on the verge of adopting a new law outlawing deepfakes, and one of the state’s main witnesses was caught using the same tools to offer a defense of the rules. The hypocrisy is hilarious enough, but the chatbot completely made up some of the cited research as well. (Techdirt)

The Download

On this week's WIRED Politics Lab podcast, Leah spoke with WIRED security and investigations editor Andrew Couts and business editor Louise Matsakis about protecting yourself from government surveillance. There’s a lot of helpful tips in there, go listen.

It was a big week for big interviews at WIRED! Check out coverage from our event in San Francisco this week. And don’t miss Steven Levy’s killer interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook on our YouTube channel here.

Plus, one thing our polarized nation can agree on.

That’s it for today—thanks again for subscribing. You can get in touch with me via email, Instagram, X, and Signal at makenakelly.32.