'Divest, ByteDance' Said the TikTok Ban

Image by antonbe from Pixabay

You know, it’s interesting how this “TikTok ban,” is being covered in the press.

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law passed by Congress that (in the word’s of the court’s opinion) “makes it unlawful for any entity to provide certain services to ‘distribute, maintain, or update’ a ‘foreign adversary controlled application’ in the United States.”

This Act doesn’t take effect until 270 days after an application has been designated as a foreign adversary controlled application. And, because the Act itself designates applications by ByteDance Ltd. (which has to be one of the dumbest-sounding corporate names ever) as being in violation of the Act’s prohibition, the entire thing won’t take effect for at least 270 days post-enactment of said Act—January 19, 2025. I assume that’s the date it takes effect. The prohibition, that is, unless that’s when the Act takes effect. The Court wasn’t terribly precise on that point.