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Supreme Court justices signalled they are likely to uphold a law that would ban the popular social media platform TikTok in the US if it isn’t sold by its Chinese parent company by Jan. 19.
Hearing arguments in Washington, a majority of justices suggested they see US national security concerns as overriding the free speech interests of the companies and a group of content creators. Several justices cast the law as being focused not on speech, but on ByteDance Ltd., the parent company that Congress concluded has dangerously close ties with China’s Communist government.
“Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is in fact subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked TikTok’s lawyer.
A decision upholding the ban would open a tumultuous period for TikTok, ByteDance and the video-sharing app’s 170 million US users. ByteDance so far has insisted it won’t consider a sale, but the company could revisit that stance if a ban is imminent.
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The law applies to technology companies — including Apple Inc., Oracle Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google — that host and distribute TikTok, threatening them with potentially massive fines if they continue to do so. The platform wouldn’t immediately disappear for users, but because it will no longer be updated, its performance in all likelihood would slowly deteriorate.
The Supreme Court put the case on a fast track after TikTok and the content creators asked for the ban to be put on hold temporarily. The justices instead scheduled a special session that gives them time to issue a definitive ruling on the law’s constitutionality before Jan. 19.
By Greg Stohr
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TikTok’s Fate Divides Trump and Fellow Republicans as Supreme Court Action Looms
The US Supreme Court will hear a high-stakes case on Friday, as President-elect Trump opposes a TikTok ban over national security concerns, while many of his Republican allies urge the court to uphold the measure.
