Supreme Court to hear TikTok’s final argument against US ban

TikTok will appear before the US Supreme Court on Friday in a last-ditch effort to overturn a ban, in a case that tests the limits of national security and free speech.

The popular social media platform is challenging a law passed last year that mandates that the company be separated from its Chinese owner or blocked from entering the United States by Jan. 19.

The US government argues that without a sale, China could use TikTok as a tool of espionage and political manipulation.

But TikTok rejects that claim, arguing that it has been unfairly targeted and that the move violates the free speech of its around 170 million American users.

Lower courts have sided with the government, but the case became complicated last month when President-elect Donald Trump intervened in the dispute and asked that enforcement of the law be suspended to give him time to reach a settlement.

Analysts have said it was unclear what the Supreme Court will decide, but that reversing the previous ruling – even with the blessing of a future president – would be unusual.

“When you pit a real government interest against a real constitutional value, the case ends up being very close,” said Saurabh Vishnubhakat, a professor at Cardozo Law School.

“But in such close cases, the government often gets the benefit of the doubt.”

The Supreme Court could make a decision within days.

Congress passed the law against TikTok last year with the support of the Democratic and Republican parties. The moment marked the culmination of years of concern about the popular platform, known for its viral videos and traction among young people.

The legislation does not prohibit use of the app, but would require tech giants like Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts say would eventually kill it.

TikTok is already banned on government devices in many countries, including the UK. It faces more comprehensive bans in some countries, including India.

The United States maintains that TikTok is a “serious” threat because the Chinese government could force its owner, ByteDance, to hand over user data or manipulate what it shows users to serve Chinese interests.

Last December, a three-judge appeals court decision upheld the law, noting China’s history of acting through private companies and saying the move was justified as “part of a broader effort to counter a well-known threat.” based on the national security proposed” by the country.

TikTok has repeatedly denied any possible influence from the Chinese Communist Party and has said the law violates its users’ First Amendment free speech rights.

He has asked the Supreme Court to strike down the law as unconstitutional or order its application to stop to allow for a review of the legislation, which he said is based on “inaccurate, defective and hypothetical information.”

Trump will take office the day after the law goes into effect.

He had called for the app to be banned in the United States during his first term, but changed his mind during the campaign.

The brief that Trump’s lawyers filed late last month did not take a position on the legal dispute, but said the case presented “a difficult, novel and unprecedented tension between the rights of free speech, on the one hand, and concerns about foreign policy and national security, on the other. other”.

Noting his election victory, he said Trump “opposes banning TikTok” and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

The presentation came less than two weeks after Trump met with the TikTok chief at Mar-a-Lago.

One of the president-elect’s biggest donors, Jeff Yass of Susequehanna International Group, is a large shareholder in the company.

However, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, favors banning the platform.

Investors who have expressed interest in purchasing TikTok include Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

Attorney Peter Choharis, who is part of a group that filed his own brief supporting the U.S. government’s case, said it was difficult to predict what the court, which has a conservative majority, would do, noting that several recent court decisions have overturned long-standing precedents. .

But he said that even if Trump were given the chance to try to reach a deal, he expected a ban eventually.

“I don’t see any president, including future President Trump, being able to resolve this in a way that is satisfactory to the national security of the United States because I don’t think ByteDance would agree to it,” he said.

The prospect of losing TikTok in the United States has sparked an outcry from many users, some of whom filed their own legal actions last year.

In their filing they said the decision that TikTok could be shut down “because the ideas on that platform could persuade Americans of one thing or another – even something potentially harmful to our democracy – is completely antithetical to the First Amendment.”

Other groups weighing in on the dispute include the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which argued that the United States had not presented “credible evidence of ongoing or imminent harm” caused by the social media app. .

Choharis said the government had the right to take action to defend itself, arguing that the fight was not “about speech” or “content” but about the role of the Chinese government.

“It’s about control and how the Chinese Communist Party specifically, and the Chinese government in general, pursue strategic objectives using many internet companies and especially social media companies, including TikTok specifically,” he said.