The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to listen to TikTok’s arguments against a law that could lead to the app being banned within the next month. The hearings will be held on January 10, 2025, just over a week before the law takes effect. For TikTok, this represents a step forward in its fight to remain operational in the United Statesas it faces two options: convince the Court to block the law or force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell.
The law at the center of the debate
At the heart of the case is the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, legislation that bans applications controlled by companies in countries considered “foreign adversaries.” The Department of Justice successfully defended the constitutionality of the law in an appeals court, arguing that the government has a legitimate interest in protecting America’s national security. Concerns about potential content manipulations and access to sensitive data of American users have been raised during classified briefings, but no declassified evidence has been presented publicly.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments from TikTok and a group of the platform’s creators, consolidating two cases into a single hearing. Both sides will have two hours to present their cases. Despite TikTok has requested an emergency injunction To stop the law from coming into force, the Court decided to postpone the decision until after the hearings. If the Court does not act, the ban will go into effect the day before the inauguration of the new president, Donald Trump, who will have the opportunity to extend the deadline by 90 days.
A geopolitical match
The TikTok battle goes beyond simple technological regulation, touching on issues of geopolitics and relations between the United States and China. The possibility of ByteDance selling TikTok is still uncertainas such a decision would require approval from the Chinese government. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has highlighted the risks of Chinese technology, while President-elect Trump, known for his electoral success on TikTok, has maintained ambiguous positions on the app.
A spokesperson for TikTok, Michael Hughes, said that the platform is “satisfied” with the Court’s decision. “We believe the Supreme Court will declare the ban unconstitutional, allowing the more than 170 million Americans on our platform to continue to exercise their right to free expression.” The Supreme Court’s final decision will be crucial to the future of TikTok in the United States and the global tech landscape.
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