In a ruling that will ripple across digital media, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a law effectively subjecting TikTok to a national ban on Sunday. Absent an 11th-hour lifeline from President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he can reach a deal to rescue the app, the massively popular social media platform used by roughly half the country will be shut down.

The justices, in a ruling issued on Friday, concluded that the law isnt in direct conflict with the First Amendment because its aimed at TikToks ownership of a company alleged to be controlled by China rather than its free speech rights. The law directs ByteDance, the apps parent company, to sell TikTok by Jan. 19. If not, web-hosting services and mobile app stores will be barred from carrying TikTok. With more than 150 million American monthly active users, the app has been integrated into American culture to an extraordinary degree. Its by far the leading video-sharing app in the country in terms of attracting and holding users attention. The ban will disrupt the income streams of hundreds of thousands of creators. Meta and Google are already moving in to fill the short-form video void left by TikTok, with the companies expected to see huge spikes to their ad businesses.

Ahead of the ruling, there were murmurs that Trump, whose term begins a day after the ban takes effect, would issue an executive order suspending enforcement of the shutdown for up to 90 days, though it remains unknown the legal avenue he can take. Last month, he filed a friend-of-the-court brief looking to delay implementation of the law, saying he could find a solution that would balance the national security and First Amendment considerations posed by the ban. Overall, he signaled his support for TikToks opposition to the law, which he said exercises an extraordinary power in effectively shutting down a massively popular platform critical to free speech.

Government officials and lawmakers have repeatedly said TikTok poses a national security threat due to its ties to ByteDance. Thus far, theyve offered no evidence that the company has provided user data to the Chinese government or that its been directed to influence the content users see on the platform.

TikToks opposition to the ban was grounded, in part, in its function as a source of news. It said its algorithm recommending or blocking certain news items to users constitutes the free speech protected under the First Amendment.

The company also argued that the government cant dictate the ownership of website, newspapers and online platforms, among other privately-created speech forums.

In response, the government claimed that the law subjecting TikTok to the ban is necessary to prevent China from spreading misinformation and curb the collection of Americans private information

Justice Brett Kavanaugh stressed during oral arguments earlier this month that Congress and the president were concerned that China was accessing information about millions of Americans, tens of millions of Americans, including teenagers, people in their 20s.