The US Supreme Court will accept TikTok's challenge to a law that, if allowed to stand, could lead to US ban of popular social media platform.
the country's highest court said Tuesday that it will hear oral arguments in the case on Jan. 10, just before the ban begins on Jan. 19. strike down the law and motion for him to issue his emergency order to stay the law until the Supreme Court considers it.
In its Supreme Court filings, TikTok argued that enactment of the law, which bans the app unless it is sold to a party deemed suitable by US officials by the January deadline, would violate the rights of millions of US users.
On Wednesday, TikTok said it was pleased with the court's decision to hear its case.
"We believe that a court will find TikTok's ban unconstitutional so that the more than 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to enjoy their free speech rights," the company said in a statement.
In its rulings earlier this month, the appeals court rejected the same argumentacknowledging that while the ban would require TikTok's millions of users to "find alternative media of communication," it was justified by the "hybrid trade threat" China poses to U.S. national security.
"The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States," wrote Senior District Judge Douglas Ginsburg in the ruling.
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Lawmakers from both political parties have long expressed concern that TikTok, which has more than 170 million American users, could pose a national security threat and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to further China's agenda. :
TikTok continues to deny the allegations. Ahead of congressional votes earlier this year, TikTok has consolidated its US usersurging them to urge their representatives on Capitol Hill to vote against it But the measure ultimately passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden.
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It's unclear how quickly the Supreme Court might rule, but the company could also get help from the incoming Trump administration.
Unless the court rules, the ban could take effect on January 19, the day before Trump's inauguration.
So what's next for lawmakers and TikTok: Here's what you need to know:
What does the law do?
The law aims to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer that US officials are okay with, and to ensure that ByteDance no longer has access to US users' data or control over the TikTok algorithm that determines what videos they see. American users.
TikTok has been given nine months to comply, with a deadline of Jan. 19 when the government can require its app to be removed from U.S. app stores.The president can extend it by 90 days.
Biden, who signed the bill authorizing those requirements, is in office until Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration.
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What's next?
After initially calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump now says he's not in favor of it and has promised to "save TikTok," though he hasn't specified how he would do so.
During a news conference Monday, Trump pointed to the role TikTok played during the election, crediting it with helping him win the youth vote.
"TikTok had an impact, and so we're looking at it," Trump told the press. "There's a little bit of a warm spot in my heart, to be honest."
Trump said on CNBC's Squawk Box in March that while he still considered the app a threat to national security, he no longer believed it should be banned, saying: "There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who would go crazy without it."
Trump added that banning TikTok would only increase the power of Facebook, which he called "the enemy of the people."
In September, Trump promised "to know TikTokThe Associated Press reported interview that aired Sunday on Meet the PressTrump did not directly say whether or how he would help TikTok avoid the ban.
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Who opposed the TikTok ban?
Free speech and digital rights groups, as well as some security experts, have long opposed the idea of a ban, saying that isolating TikTok does nothing to address broader problems with social media in general supreme court
Instead, they argue, lawmakers would be better off passing comprehensive digital privacy laws that would protect Americans' personal data by stopping all social media companies from collecting it and selling it to data brokers.
Electronic Frontier Foundation Director of Civil Liberties David Green, who co-authored amicus brief A filing on Tuesday told the court that the ban and its upholding by the appeals court should cause "great concern" even for those who dislike TikTok.
"Closing down or forcing the reconfiguration of communications platforms based on concerns about foreign propaganda and anti-national manipulation is an eminently anti-democratic tactic that the US has condemned around the world in the past," Green said in the EFF statement.
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