The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law requiring ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to divest its U.S. operations by Sunday or face a nationwide ban.
Driving the news: ByteDance is now expected to make good on its threat to disable the app in the U.S. sometime tomorrow (the ban was only meant to block new downloads and app updates), leaving over 1 million creators and 170 million users with one less place to scroll.
- Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, has said he would “save” the app and is considering an executive order that would buy time to work out a plan for TikTok.
But what happens in Canada? While the ban only targets American operations, it could immediately limit the reach of Canadian creators and small businesses with substantial followings in the U.S., affecting both audience engagement and potential revenue streams.
- Meanwhile, the interconnected nature of digital platforms means that disruptions in one region can influence the experience for TikTok’s ~12 million Canadian users.
Big picture: Last year, Ottawa ordered ByteDance to cease operations in Canada due to national security concerns. Canada does not have any laws in place that could ban TiKTok outright like in the U.S., but growing scrutiny could signal that changes are ahead.—SB
