TikTok could be shut down this Sunday under current law. The Supreme Court is currently hearing an appeal from ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to overturn the law set to ban the app. However, the high court appears unlikely to side in the TikTok’s favor.

The ban was overwhelmingly passed with bipartisan support from Congress last year. If it goes into effect, current users could still legally access TikTok, but it would not receive updates or be available through app stores. Tech companies that knowingly provide access to it would be heavily fined: $5,000 for each person that uses it.

The congressional ban argues that TikTok poses a national security threat since the headquarters of ByteDance are in Beijing, China. Lawmakers fear that China could use the app to harvest Americans’ personal data or manipulate their content exposure. However, Congress has not provided any evidence of Chinese interference on TikTok. 

Some critics argue that the ban suppresses Americans’ free speech, many of whom are young adults. Additionally, they argue it unfairly distributes blame to one company, since foreign intelligence can easily access information about U.S. users through data aggregators that collect information from US social media sites like X and Facebook. 

President-elect Donald Trump also rejected the ban, despite endorsing it just last year. However, according to NPR, his legal options to overturn it would be limited even after his inauguration.