The reality is that the popular video-sharing platform TikTok is on track to be shut down in the United States on Sunday unless something happens, like the Supreme Court intervening or TikTok being sold.
Congress passed a bipartisan bill into law in April of last year that banned TikTok from operating in the United States, citing national security concerns. The legislation required TikTok to either divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance, sell the platform to a U.S.-owned company, or face a shutdown on Jan. 19.
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The Supreme Court announced Wednesday is a day that opinions from the high court could be released. While that doesn't mean the TikTok decision will come down, it does mean an opinion on at least one case is possible.
However, during oral arguments last week, justices appeared extremely skeptical of the platform's argument that a ban would violate free speech.
If the Supreme Court doesn't save TikTok, another possibility is President-elect Donald Trump could get involved. He campaigned on saving the platform. But he may be too late.
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Trump doesn't take the oath of office until Monday Jan. 20, the day after a possible TikTok ban. And so far, repealing the federal law that is calling for the ban has not been a high priority for Republican leaders in Congress.
Therefor, if Trump or the Supreme Court doesn't save TikTok, there are few options left for the company to remain operational in the U.S.
Bloomberg News is reporting that billionaire Elon Musk is being considered as a potential buyer of TikTok. But Chinese officials have called any effort to sell the platform "pure fiction."
TikTok claims if a ban is allowed to take effect, content creators and businesses that use the platform for sales are slated to lose billions of dollars.
