Supreme Court will hear TikTok divest-or-be-banned law

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on TikTok’s challenge to a federal law that could ban the platform in the U.S. unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership by January 19.

The platform argues the law violates the First Amendment, impacting over 170 million American users.

In a rare move, the court added a January 10 hearing to review whether the law, passed to address national security concerns, unlawfully restricts free speech. 

The law targets fears of the Chinese government’s influence on U.S. public opinion and data security.

The justices will consider an appeals court ruling supporting the law, which claims it protects free speech by addressing foreign adversary risks. A decision could reshape the platform’s future and online free speech.

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump (who will take office on January 20) added uncertainty surrounding the ban-or-sale law when he suggested he could try to retain access to the app.