Pence lauds TikTok ruling: 'Victory for privacy'

Former Vice President Pence on Friday applauded the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban on TiKTok, calling it a "victory for privacy and security of the American people."

"The Supreme Court's decision upholding the law requiring TikTok to divest from the Chinese Communist Party is a victory for the privacy and security of the American people," Pence wrote on X just moments after the high court handed down its ruling.

"This law was the result of a bipartisan cooperation and I commend it's authors and supporters in Congress for enacting this vital law for our national security," he continued. "The CCP has been put on notice that the American people’s data is no longer for the taking."

The Supreme Court's ruling sided with the Biden administration, finding the divest-or-ban law does not violate the First Amendment just days before the ban on the video sharing platform could take effect.

The ban law, which passed Congress with wide bipartisan majorities and was signed by President Biden in April, gave TikTok until Sunday to either divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S. amid national security concerns.

“Under these circumstances, we find the Government’s data collection justification sufficient to sustain the challenged provisions,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The Biden administration, however, does not plan to enforce the law ahead of inauguration, ultimately leaving the decision to Trump and seemingly keeping the app online for the time being, according to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

Pence has been a longtime critic of TikTok for its ties to China and pushed for the law to pass through Congress last spring.

Advancing American Freedom, the conservative nonprofit advocacy group founded by Pence, filed an amicus brief last month calling on the Supreme Court to uphold the law.

The former vice president called on the incoming Trump administration to uphold the divestment law and "put the privacy and security of America first."

Trump urged the justices to delay the deadline so he could negotiate a deal and has increasingly expressed sympathy with TikTok as the ban approached.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration, and Trump is reportedly considering signing an executive order to circumvent the ban. 

TikTok has fiercely fought back against the law, arguing in court earlier this month a divestment is not a feasible option.

TikTok's lawyer told the justices the platform will "go dark" on Sunday should the ban take effect, though questions remain over what this could look like.

While TikTok has not publicly confirmed its plans, one report claimed the company intends to immediately shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday.  

Unless the Supreme Court strikes down the ban, TikTok is planning to make the app unusable for people in the U.S. once the ban takes effect, The Information reported Tuesday, citing two people familiar with TikTok’s plans.  

Under the plan, users trying to open the TikTok app will be greeted with a message directing them to a website with information about the ban, according to The Information report. Users will be given the option to download their data but will not be able to use the app, the outlet added.  

The law does not stipulate the exact actions TikTok should take, but makes it illegal for U.S. app stores — like ones operated by Google or Apple — and web-hosting services to distribute TikTok to its users.  

As a result, the application will be pulled from app stores and unavailable for new downloads. Existing downloads are not likely to be removed — at least initially — on U.S. devices, which could lead to the app becoming buggy and eventually nonfunctional, cyber experts told The Hill.