WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will take up TikTok’s appeal challenging a federal law that could ban the popular social media app by next month. The court acted just a day after TikTok filed its appeal and will hear oral arguments on January 10 before issuing a decision on whether to put the law on hold.
At issue is a bipartisan measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden that would go into effect on January 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The law, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, would require TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban.
TikTok has challenged the law, saying it violates its free speech rights under the First Amendment. The company believes the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional and allow the platform’s 170 million American users to continue exercising their free speech rights.
The Justice Department has defended the law on national security grounds, focusing on concerns about the Chinese government’s potential to influence the company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the law, finding that the government’s national security justifications were legitimate.
Trump, who previously tried to ban TikTok, has changed his tune, saying he has a “warm spot” in his heart for the platform and met with the company’s CEO. The Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case could potentially block the law before it goes into effect, giving TikTok more time to continue operating in the United States.
