ToplineThe Supreme Court signaled in oral arguments Friday that it may uphold the federal ban on TikTok, potentially leaving it up to President-elect Donald Trump to try and keep the app legal once he takes office but the president-elect has limited options if the law is upheld, and any attempts to stop it could be challenged in court.President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on December 16 in ... [+] Palm Beach, Florida.Getty ImagesKey FactsTrump opposes the TikTok ban taking effect, his lawyers said in a recent court filing, and the president-elect asked, Why would I want to get rid of TikTok? on Truth Social last week, posting a graphic that boasted his popularity on the platform and the billions of views his official accounts and hashtags associated with him have garnered.The lawwhich prohibits U.S. app stores from hosting TikTok unless Chinese parent company ByteDance divests from itis scheduled to take effect one day before Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration, so Trump has also asked the Supreme Court to stop the law from taking effect until after he takes office, arguing he wants time to resolve the ban before it can take effect.Its unclear if the Supreme Court will comply with that request, and if the court upholds the law and it takes effect by the time Trump is inaugurated, hell have limited options on blocking it.The law empowers the president to pause the ban for 90 days if TikTok shows its in the process of separating from ByteDance, so Trump could pause it once he takes officethough without actual evidence showing ByteDance is divesting, Trumps pause may not be legally sound, meaning it could be challenged in court and the ban could take effect anyway.Trump could also similarly just declare TikTok in compliance with the lawregardless of whether or not its actually separated from ByteDanceUniversity of Minnesota law professor Alan Rozenshtein noted, which would keep TikTok legal but similarly leave room for the move to be challenged in court if ByteDance hasnt actually divested.Beyond that, Trump cant do much: He could try to negotiate a deal for TikTok to be sold to a U.S. company so it would properly comply with the law, but if ByteDance isnt willing to sellwhich so far it isntthe ban will stay in effect unless Congress decides to repeal the law.Crucial QuotePresident Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office, his lawyer Dean John Sauer wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court.What To Watch ForThe Supreme Court expressed skepticism of TikToks arguments against the ban during oral arguments on Jan. 10, signaling justices could uphold the ban. Its expected the court will quickly rule before the law is due to take effect Jan. 19. Though Trump has asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban until after his inauguration, he isnt a party in the litigation, and Rozenshtein told CBS News there are no legal grounds for Trump to unilaterally pause the law since hes still a private citizen and isnt actually the president yet. That means theres no guarantee the justices will listen to his request, and its still possible the law could take effect Jan. 19 before Trump takes office.Can Trump Just Not Enforce The Tiktok Ban?Another move Trump could technically make if the TikTok ban takes effect is to say his Justice Department just wont enforce the ban, inviting companies like Apple and Google to leave the app up on its app stores without facing the harsh financial penalties that the law imposes. But thats unlikely to work, as legal experts have noted companies would likely comply with the ban anyway, rather than risk facing penalties if Trump ever changed his mind.Will Bytedance Divest From Tiktok?TikTok and ByteDance so far havent shown any interest in separating, with TikTok arguing in a court filing that doing so is not possible technologically, commercially, or legally. It remains to be seen if the company will change its mind should the Supreme Court uphold the law and it actually take effect, however. Trump could also potentially have an impact on forcing ByteDances hand, as James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR that China could be persuaded to approve of ByteDance selling TikTok in exchange for Trump backing off his threat of high tariffs on Chinese imports.What Happens If The Tiktok Ban Takes Effect?The full impact of the TikTok ban taking effect is still unclear. The law does not ban Americans from using TikTok and wouldnt wipe it from users phones, but rather bans U.S. app stores and internet service providers from hosting it. That means TikTok may not immediately stop working for its more than 170 million U.S. users. But it would mean that users could not download or update TikTok from Apple or Googles app stores, it would grow obsolete and eventually no longer work. Oracle also wouldnt be allowed to host TikToks U.S. user data, as it does now. It remains to be seen what the effects of that will be in practice: While TikTok said in a court filing that banning internet service providers from hosting the app means the company could no longer provid[e] the services that enable the TikTok platform to function, effectively shutting down TikTok in the United States, Rozenshtein noted to CBS News that TikTok could move its U.S. data servers out of the country, which would keep the app running. Its also still unknown how the ban will affect other parts of TikToks U.S. operations, like the TikTok Shop or paying creators who make money on the platform. Will The Ban Impact Possible Tiktok Alternative Lemon8?Yes, the ban is expected to similarly impact ByteDance-owned apps CapCut and Lemon8.Surprising FactIf the ban does take effect and block TikToks U.S. user data from being hosted by a U.S. company, its possible the data that TikTok already has on its American users could be moved to China, which a Forbes investigation found is what happened when India similarly banned the app. That would actually make it more likely the data could be accessed by the Chinese government, contrary to the federal laws national security goals.Key BackgroundPresident Joe Biden signed the bill requiring TikTok to leave ByteDance or else be banned into law in April, reflecting a bipartisan concern from lawmakers that the app poses a threat to national security. TikTok has long denied any wrongdoing or links to the Chinese government, but Forbes has reported numerous concerns involving the app, including TikTok spying on journalists, promoting Chinese propaganda that criticized U.S. politicians, mishandling user data and tracking sensitive words. The specific evidence the government has for justifying TikToks ban has not been made public, however, and was entirely redacted in court filings. TikTok and creators on the app sued to block the law days after it was enacted, arguing the ban unlawfully infringed on their First Amendment rights. A panel of federal judges sided with the governments argument that the ban was justified due to the national security threat and did not violate TikToks First Amendment rights, given that users can still post on the app if it just separates itself from ByteDance. The court ruled the law as it was enacted is actually a less restrictive way of handling the governments concerns about TikTok, given the fact it still allows the company to operate in the U.S. if ByteDance divests from it. TikTok appealed the case to the Supreme Court after the lower court declined to pause the law from taking effect, and the Supreme Court quickly took it up, scheduling arguments for Jan. 10 but declining to pause the law in the meantime.Further Reading