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The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) agreed to hear oral arguments concerning whether a bill forcing a TikTok sale violates the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court has allotted two hours for oral arguments on January 10, 2025, during which time TikTok and the Department of Justice can plead their case.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) argues that the relevant new law, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is legal and does not violate the constitution. The bill’s proponents argue that companies in adversarial nations like China should not own apps like TikTok if they are to operate within the United States. TikTok reportedly has up to 150 million active users in the United States alone.
The DoJ recently successfully defended the bill in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals against an emergency injunction filed by TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance.
Experts suggest that SCOTUS agreeing to hear the case is a win for TikTok, especially as President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly flip-flopped on whether he would step in to save the social media company’s presence in the United States. Trump publicly opposes the ban and met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago in Florida earlier this week. Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025, one day after the TikTok sale-or-ban bill is set to take effect.
TikTok has repeatedly claimed that its social media app is a significant free speech platform within the United States and that the First Amendment protects it.
Thus far, courts — and appellate courts — have determined that the law does not violate the constitution and its potential ban instead falls under the purview of national security, agreeing with the DoJ that the federal government has the legal authority to create and enforce a law like the one that has TikTok in its sights.
The bill was overwhelmingly passed with bipartisan support in the 118th Congress by a count of 352 yeas to 65 nays. President-elect Trump favored a TikTok ban during his first term in the White House — going so far as to attempt to ban it via executive order — before switching his stance during the 2024 campaign trail.
“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump claimed this week. “There are those that say TikTok has something to do with that. TikTok had an impact.”
By agreeing to hear the case, SCOTUS will engage in a tense debate over government power and, perhaps most importantly, where free speech begins and ends relative to national security interests. SCOTUS has also extended a lifeline to TikTok.
Image credits: Header photo created using assets licensed via Depositphotos.
English (US) ·