One of the most important cases of the social media era, freedom of expression and national security Clash in Supreme Court on Friday In the debate over the fate of TikTok, a hugely popular digital platform that is used by nearly half of the people in the United States for entertainment and information.
TikTok could shut down the social media site in the US by January 19, unless the Supreme Court strikes down a law aimed at forcing the sale of TikTok by its Chinese parent company or otherwise on that law's effective date. Does not delay.
“In the absence of such relief, the Act will take effect on January 19, 2025,” TikTok said in a legal filing on December 9. “TikTok, one of the nation's most popular speech platforms for its more than 170 million domestic monthly users, will be shut down on the eve of the presidential inauguration.”
Working on a tight deadline, the judges also face a petition from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his former support for the ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a “political solution.” Can go and avoid taking decisions. Case. It is unclear whether the court will take into account the views of the Republican president-elect – a highly unusual attempt to influence a case.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue that the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantees.
“Rarely has the Court faced a free speech case that matters so much to so many people,” lawyers for users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could impact their livelihoods and are keeping an eye on other platforms.
This case represents another example of the Court being asked to rule about a medium with which judges have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, although they often address important issues involving restrictions on speech. Let's pay attention.
How can TikTok avoid ban?
Apart from the intervention of the Supreme Court, TikTok has several avenues to avoid the ban, Experts told CBS News,
Trump could take action once he takes office and ask the Justice Department not to enforce the law or prosecute tech companies like Apple and Google that host TikTok in their app stores. Trump also has the authority to issue a 90-day delay on the legislation after January 19, although he would have to certify to Congress that there has been “evidence of significant progress” toward divestment.
If the law goes into effect, TikTok won't disappear from Americans' phones on January 19. However, users will not be able to update the app and those who do not already have it will not be able to download it.
The Biden administration, defending the legislation that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by a broad bipartisan majority in Congress, argues that “nobody can seriously dispute that (China's ) Control over TikTok through ByteDance is a serious threat to national security.”
Officials say Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over information about TikTok's US patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information.
But the government “admits it has no evidence that China ever attempted to do this,” TikTok told the judges, adding that limits on speech should not be upheld when they arise from those fears. Which are based on future risks.
In December, a panel of three appellate judges, two appointed by Republicans and one by a Democrat, unanimously upheld the law and rejected the First Amendment speech claims.
Trump urged the court to stop
Adding to the tension, the court is hearing arguments just nine days before the law takes effect and 10 days before the new administration takes office.
In language typically seen in campaign advertising rather than legal briefs, Trump's lawyers have called on the court to temporarily block the TikTok ban from taking effect, but avoided a definitive resolution.
“President Trump alone has the entire dealmaking expertise, electoral mandate, and political will to negotiate a solution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the government – concerns that President Trump himself acknowledged. is,” D. John Sawyer, Trump's choice to be his administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote in a legal brief filed with the court.
Trump took no position on the underlying merits of the case, Sawyer wrote. Trump's campaign team used TikTok to connect with young voters, especially male voters, and in December, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. He has 14.7 million followers on TikTok.
The judges have scheduled two hours for arguments and the session will probably last longer than that. Three highly experienced lawyers of the Supreme Court will present the arguments. Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger will present the Biden administration's defense of the law, while Trump's Solicitor General in his first administration, Noel Francisco, will argue on behalf of TikTok and ByteDance. Stanford Law professor Jeffrey Fisher will make his 50th high court argument, representing content creators and users.
If the law takes effect, Trump's Justice Department will be charged with enforcing it. Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance have argued that the new administration may try to mitigate the most serious consequences of the law.
But he also said that just a one-month shutdown would cause TikTok to lose about a third of its daily users in the US and significant advertising revenue.
As it weighs the case, the court must decide what level of review it applies to the law. Under the most rigorous scrutiny, even the most rigorous scrutiny, laws almost always fail. But the two appeals court judges who upheld the law said it would be a rare exception that could withstand strict scrutiny.
TikTok, users of the app, and several briefs supporting them have urged the court to apply stricter scrutiny to strike down the law.
But the Democratic administration and some of its supporters cite restrictions on foreign ownership of radio stations and other sectors of the economy to justify the TikTok ban in an effort to counter Chinese influence.
The decision may come in a few days.
editor's Note: This story has been changed to clarify that if the Supreme Court decides against granting a temporary injunction that would overturn or delay the law that could lead to a US ban, TikTok could be shut down on January 19. It is possible