TikTok and its parent company, China-based ByteDance, asked the U.S. Supreme Court in December to pause the mid-January deadline imposed by U.S. lawmakers last April that forces ByteDance to sell TikTok or face being banned in the U.S.
The hearing on Friday, January 10 lasted for more than two hours. But the Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on whether to uphold the ban, which is set to go into effect on January 19. Reports note that TikTok is preparing to “go dark” on Sunday.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted during the proceedings, “The law doesn’t say TikTok has to shut down. It says ByteDance has to divest.”
ByteDance has previously said that it would not sell. Despite reports this week that suggested the company was talking to Elon Musk about a possible sale, TikTok said the news is “pure fiction.”
Now, on Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming National Security Advisor, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, said on Fox News’ “Special Report” that Trump will “preserve” the app, either through an executive order or other measures, like the 90-day Presidential extension option written into the law. Trump is set to be inaugurated the day following the possible ban.
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TikTok had argued that a ban “violates the First Amendment.” The app is used by around 170 million Americans, according to ByteDance. During the proceedings, a lawyer representing TikTok creators wondered why other Chinese-owned companies, like Temu, aren’t being targeted.
The justices noted that ByteDance is a foreign corporation that doesn’t have First Amendment rights.
“Congress doesn’t care what’s on TikTok,” Chief Justice John Roberts said during the hearing. “Congress is fine with the expression.”
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In September, U.S. government attorneys argued that TikTok’s algorithm is “controlled by its Chinese parent company,” which may influence Americans on the app. The Biden Administration also argued that TikTok could access data from American users and send it to China.
Despite supporting a ban in the past, President-elect Trump urged the Supreme Court to block it in a filing in December.
In a separate court filing the same month, TikTok said that if the ban went through, creators and small businesses in the U.S. could lose $1.3 billion in revenue and earnings in just one month.
TikTok broke it down as about $1 billion in business marketing and $300 million in earnings for people who create videos with the app.
This is a developing news story and will be updated.
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