‘Let’s just call it anybody’s ballgame’

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday gave investors his read on the future of TikTok, saying the popular app faces a contentious battle even up against a conservative-leaning Supreme Court.

“Here we are almost nine months later, and it seems like the only real way to stop the TikTok ban is if they win this case before the Supreme Court,” Cramer said. “Given that this isn’t a straightforwardly partisan issue…I think, well, let’s just call it anybody’s ballgame.”

Last April, President Joe Biden signed a bill that said TikTok would be banned by Jan. 19 of this year unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells the business. TikTok and its proponents say the ban violates First Amendment free speech rights, while a federal appeals court upheld the ban last month citing national security concerns. Cramer stressed that the TikTok case is tricky because it’s a law passed by Congress, not an executive order that could be more easily reversed.

The Supreme Court is set to hear TikTok’s challenge to the ban on Friday. Even with a conservative majority, it is unclear what the justices’ verdict will be, Cramer said. In the past, he continued, many conservatives came out against the app, including President-elect Donald Trump and members of Congress who voted for the ban last spring. But Trump has since flip-flopped on the issue and asked for a delay on the ban deadline until he’s sworn into office — a request the Department of Justice has urged the Supreme Court not to grant.

Cramer said Wall Street might want to more seriously consider what a TikTok ban would mean for the market, saying if the law is upheld it will likely be enforced by platforms like Apple and Google. A U.S. social media landscape without TikTok might spell good news for competitors vying for advertisers like Meta, which has a platform similar to TikTok called Reels, he said. On the other hand, a ban could make service providers take a hit, including Oracle, which is TikTok’s main cloud technology provider.

“So, what’s going to happen? It’s tough, I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I think TikTok and its fellow creator petitioners can score some points with that First Amendment argument, but if the government can paint a clear picture of why TikTok is a national security threat, it could be able to win.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to request for comment.