Political shifts and legal hurdles have delayed TikTok's removal, with Biden reportedly kicking the issue to Trump.

Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a new law that would lead to a ban of the social media platform TikTok, clearing the way for the widely popular app to shutter in the U.S. as soon as Sunday.

In an unsigned decision, the court sided with the government’s arguments that the divest-or-ban law does not violate the First Amendment. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court voted Friday to uphold a law that will require TikTok to shut down as soon as Sunday,

The Supreme Court has decided to uphold the law that will ban TikTok on Jan. 19 if its parent company ByteDance continues to refuse to sell the app before then.

TikTok is set to be banned in the US on 19 January after the Supreme Court denied a last ditch legal bid from its Chinese owner, ByteDance. It found the law banning the social media platform did not violate the first amendment rights of TikTok and its 170 million users, as the companies argued.

The app’s availability in the U.S. has been thrown into jeopardy over data privacy and national security concerns.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is on the verge of being banned in the United States. The thing is, the government could go after other ByteDance apps, and there are quite a few of them operating in the U.

The ruling against TikTok disrupts the American social media landscape, impacting 170 million users who call it home.

The Supreme Court seemed to lean Thursday toward upholding a law forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell off TikTok, with all nine justices indicating national security concerns posed by the social media app outweighed potential threats to free speech.

The Supreme Court rejected TikTok's appeal to halt a law banning the app in the U.S. unless Chinese parent ByteDance sells its stake by Jan. 19.

TikTok's parent company is asking the Supreme Court to halt a law that would require the company to sell TikTok to a U.S. firm or face a ban.

As TikTok’s fate hangs in the balance, roughly 170 million users across the United States face the possibility of losing access to the app, which has become the focal point of a growing national security debate.