UPDATE 12:44 pm ET, 1/19: TikTok shut down access to its site in the U.S. Sunday afternoon ahead of Monday's deadline imposed by a new law banning the Chinese-owned site. But President-elect Trump said he will issue an executive order when he takes office Monday that will give the site a 90-day extention and the site became visible again..

Friday night President Biden was said to be taking a pass on TikTok, leaving it up to incoming President Trump to decide to shut it down, as required by law. But today the Supreme Court upheld the law banning the wildly popular platform if it remains under Chinese ownership.
That apparently leaves no room for executive clemency and means TikTok must go dark Sunday night. An unnamed White House official was quoted Thursday night as saying Biden would delay implementing the measure, leaving it up to Trump, who takes office on Monday.
Such a move by Biden would have delayed the ban's taking effect, leaving it to Trump to say yea or nay. Trump has said he wants to "save" TikTok and was reportedly considering issuing an executive order that would delay implementation of the ban for 90 days.
But the law enacted by Congress and signed by Biden with bipartisan support requires TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest the company or be banned from operating in the U.S.
More than 170 million Americans are registered users of the platform and thousands more are content creators who produce videos and other short bits that keep millions of fans entertained. Those content creators are said to be "terrified" at the prospect of a shutdown, which would put them out of business, at least for awhile.
The court's ruling turned aside arguments that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of Americans who want to watch the often unusual material that has made TikTok a massive force in entertainment.
Several justices noted that foreign companies, like TikTok owner ByteDance, do not have any First Amendment rights. Also, the First Amendment protects the right to speak and publish but doesn't specifically protect the recipients of disputed material -- the audience, in other words.
The fear is that the Chinese-owned company is gathering intelligence that could be used by the Chinese goverment to gather damaging intelligence from those who watch the dancing cat videos and other attractions.
There has been speculation that Trump is forging a path for billionaire Elon Musk to acquire TikTok and merge it into his X, formerly Twitter. If Musk or another American billionaire bought the site before Sunday night, it could presumably stay alive.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump's inauguration and to have a prime seating location for the ceremonies.
“We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” incoming White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Thursday, noting that the new law allows for an extension preventing it from taking effect “as long as a viable deal is on the table.”