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.

Starting Sunday, if the company is not sold, app stores and cloud providers who continue to host it will face billions of dollars in fines.

The U.S. Supreme Court is viewed as open to upholding a national-security law that will shut down the video-sharing app nationwide on Sunday if it continues to be controlled by its Chinese parent company.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked Donald Trump for his commitment to "finding a solution" that keeps TikTok available in the U.S. after the ruling.

The Supreme Court upheld a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States. Here's what to know about the potential ban.

The first, Noel J. Francisco, who represents ByteDance, is a prominent conservative litigator who is now a partner at the Jones Day law firm. A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Mr. Francisco clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and served in the White House and the Justice Department in the George W. Bush administration.

In an unanimous ruling handed down on Friday morning, January 17 in TikTok v. Merrick B. Garland, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a TikTok ban that is scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, January 19 unless ByteDance — the video sharing platform's owner in Mainland China — divests itself.

The Supreme Court appeared to lean towards upholding a law that requires TikTok to be divested from Chinese parent ByteDance (BDNCE) by January 19 or face a U.S. ban, following over two hours of oral arguments in a closely-watched hearing last Friday.

A law signed by President Joe Biden in April requires TikTok to divest from its Chinese ownership and sell to a U.S. company or it will be shut down. If the Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional before then, TikTok can continue to exist as it is today.

A former solicitor general representing TikTok, Noel Francisco, previously told the Supreme Court that the app would in effect “go dark” and that the ban clashes “with the First Amendment.”

TikTok may be banned across the United States from January 19. What happens if the Chinese app is banned? How will it impact users? Is there any alternatives? Here's all you need to know.

Editor's Note: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday, Jan. 20 to keep TikTok operating for 75 days. Trump’s order instructs the U.S. attorney general not to take any action to ...