By Ruling on TikTok, the Supreme Court Inadvertently Kept It Alive

Had SCOTUS simply denied the emergency-docket application, things would have had the chance to proceed normally, and TikTok would have been held to account.

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The U.S. head office of TikTok in Culver City, Calif., September 15, 2020

Mike Blake/Reuters

TikTok seems to be safe and with it the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on American data and information consumption. It didn’t have to be this way.

Last spring, Congress passed and the president signed a law that required TikTok to be divested of its Chinese ownership by January 19, 2025, in order to continue operating in the United States. When TikTok predictably sued, a unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit held that the law was constitutional, and the divesture requirement could go into effect a little over a month later.

Michael A. Fragoso

About the Author

Michael A. Fragoso

Michael A. Fragoso is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He previously served as chief counsel to Senator Mitch McConnell and chief counsel for judicial nominations and constitutional law on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He clerked for Judge Sykes from 2014 to 2015.

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