The US Supreme Court is deciding the issue of freedom of speech and national security in the context of the popular TikTok platform. The future of the app, which is used by about half of the country’s population, is at stake. If the court does not block or delay the new law, TikTok could stop working for American users as early as January 19.
Image source: Eyestetix Studio / Unsplash
Under a law signed by President Joe Biden in April, Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, must sell the platform. Otherwise, the application may be banned. “If the court does not intervene, the law will go into effect on January 19, 2025, which will lead to the closure of TikTok, one of the most popular platforms for more than 170 million [US] users,” US media company CBS News reports.
To make matters worse, nine days before the law took effect and ten days before his inauguration, Donald Trump, the president-elect, called on the Supreme Court to delay the decision. Despite his previous support for the ban, Trump has suggested giving his administration time to find a political solution. “President Trump has the unique experience and political will to negotiate to save the platform while resolving a difficult national security issue,” wrote Trump lawyer John Sauer.
As noted by CBS News, Trump has not taken a position on the main issues of the case, but has actively used TikTok in his election campaign to attract a young audience. He himself has 14.7 million followers on the app, and in December he even met with TikTok CEO Shaw Zi Chew at his private Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
The parties’ arguments are based on the fact that TikTok, its users and content creators claim that the law violates freedom of speech guaranteed by the US Constitution. “It’s rare that a court is faced with a free speech case that affects such a significant number of people,” the users’ lawyers said. At the same time, the Biden administration insists that Chinese control of TikTok poses a serious national security threat.
The government argues that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over American user data or use the platform to manipulate information. However, as TikTok notes, there is still no evidence of such actions. If the law comes into force, TikTok will not disappear instantly anyway, as users will be able to continue using the application, although they will not be able to download updates. However, new users will no longer be able to download TikTok.
It is worth saying that the situation will seriously affect content creators, who risk losing their audience and income. TikTok warns that even a month-long ban would result in the loss of about a third of its daily audience and significant advertising revenue.
Experts note that the new US administration has several ways to avoid banning TikTok. In particular, Trump could instruct the Justice Department not to enforce the law or delay its implementation for 90 days if he can prove to Congress that “significant progress” has been made on the sale of TikTok (lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance hope that the new leadership will be able to at least soften the harshest provisions of law).
The court hearing will last several hours, and the parties will present their arguments. The Biden administration will be defended by Solicitor General (representing the executive branch in the Supreme Court in all categories of cases) Elizabeth Prelogar, the interests of TikTok and ByteDance will be represented by former Trump solicitor general Noel Francisco, and users and content creators will be represented by Stanford University professor Jeffrey Fisher (Jeffrey Fisher).
The court’s decision could be made in the coming days. If the law goes into effect, the US Department of Justice will be required to enforce it.