Washington, 18 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected a last-minute appeal by TikTok to block a law banning the short-video app in the United States unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company.

The judges rejected TikTok's argument that the law violated free speech protections in the Constitution.

That was in line with a lower court's ruling that the law complies with long-standing regulatory practices and that the US Congress did not intend to suppress specific topics of speech.

The popular platform with 170 million users in the US could now be removed from app stores in the country on Sunday, a day before Donald Trump returns to the presidency, although the next steps remain unclear.

President Joe Biden signed the ban-or-sale law into effect last April after it was approved in Congress on national security grounds.

Lawmakers fear that Chinese government could gain access to vast amounts of personal data and use the platform to exert political influence.

The law gave China's ByteDance until January 19 to divest from its US operations or face a nationwide blackout from Google and Apple's app stores.

However, both the current White House and the incoming Trump administration have sent signals they could use a provision of the law to give ByteDance a 90-day reprieve, meaning the app would remain in stores for the time being.

TikTok says it will 'go dark' unless Biden intervenes

Meanwhile, TikTok announced late on Friday that it would shut down in the US unless the government provides clearer assurances by the Sunday deadline.

"The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers," TikTok said in a statement posted on X.

"Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19," the statement added.

Trump tried to ban TikTok in his first presidency

Former and soon-to-be president Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first presidency by issuing an executive order in 2020 that would have had that effect, saying TikTok's "risks are real."

That attempt was thwarted by a US federal judge, who said the then president did not have the authority to ban the app.

But Trump's had a change of heart.

He now credits TikTok with helping him connect with young voters during his election campaign.

"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said at a press conference in December.

Photo: EPA