January 10, 2025
3 minutes read
Supreme Court hears arguments on US TikTok ban
TikTok is running on time. China-based app owner ByteDance must sell the app by January 19 or face a ban.
Participants hold signs in support of TikTok outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
About 170 million people in the U.S. use TikTok, but that number could suddenly plummet to zero when legislation signed by President Joe Biden goes into effect on January 19. The law forces ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, to make a choice. Sell your app to a non-Chinese company or face a ban. ByteDance has repeatedly stated that the app is not for sale.
Instead, the company sued to keep the TikTok app available in the United States, and the case has now reached the Supreme Court. During oral arguments Friday, Noel Francisco, a lawyer for ByteDance’s U.S. subsidiary TikTok, Inc., likened TikTok’s curation algorithm to editorial discretion and argued that the new law violates the subsidiary’s First Amendment rights. U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar, speaking on behalf of the U.S. government, countered that China has no right to manipulate American content under the First Amendment. And she claimed that “the Chinese government could weaponize TikTok at any time to harm the United States.” ”
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling within the next nine days.
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Why is TikTok’s clock ticking?
Congress, which passed the TikTok law with bipartisan support, said China’s influence on the platform poses a national security threat. The Justice Department also warned that the app could collect personal data from millions of U.S. users.covert manipulation(Although there is evidence that ByteDance shared non-U.S. user data with China, the U.S. government has not provided direct evidence of any involvement by the company or its subsidiaries with U.S. users.)
What could happen?
If TikTok loses the lawsuit, “from what I understand, we will go dark,” Francisco told the Supreme Court on Friday. Americans can no longer download or update TikTok from Google or Apple’s app stores. Internet service providers also face severe penalties if they allow U.S. users access to TikTok.
Americans may react in similar ways to former TikTok users elsewhere. After India banned the app in 2020, users flocked to other forms of short videos like Instagram Reels. YouTube Shorts. You can also access blocked content by: virtual private networkOr a VPN that can disguise your traffic to make it look like it originates from a country where TikTok is not banned.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay interpreting the law until he takes office. An amicus brief filed on his behalf argues that his “impeccable transactional expertise” could save the platform while addressing national security concerns. Last September, Trump pledged to save the app, posting on his social media network Truth Social: “For everyone who wants to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump!” legal Scholars criticized President Trump’s request for postponement.
Is the TikTok ban legal? Is this a security theater?
Civil liberties and free speech groups oppose the ban, arguing that it violates Americans’ rights under the First Amendment. “Restricting citizens’ access to foreign media is a practice that has long been associated with the world’s most repressive regimes, and it would be deeply unfortunate if the Supreme Court allowed this practice to take root here,” said Jameel Jaffer, Knight’s managing director. said. First Amendment Institute, in a press release issued by the institute on Thursday.
Some free speech experts have argued that such a TikTok ban is more of a political stance than a protection for users. The move will do little to prevent data brokers from selling U.S. users’ information to foreign technology companies or to intermediaries, which in turn may sell that information to foreign governments. “Banning access to one application does not guarantee the safety or security of Americans’ data from China or any other country.” Kate LueneIn an interview, a lawyer from the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a non-profit civil rights organization, said: Scientific American last year.
