The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday considered the controversial sell-or-ban law targeting TikTok over its ties to China. The justices raised pointed questions during oral arguments, reflecting their skepticism about the social media app’s challenge to the law.
The legislation, passed in April, requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its stake to prevent a nationwide ban scheduled for January 19. The court’s decision on whether to temporarily block the law could come imminently, well before resolving the broader free speech implications.
Concerns about TikTok’s handling of data and potential Chinese government influence have been raised by former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden. TikTok, however, maintained that these fears were unfounded and pointed to the platform’s daily content, from cat videos to recipes, as proof of its impartiality.
While the Court’s debate largely revolved around foreign control and national security, the First Amendment implications remained the focus of app advocates, including content creators who fear losing access to millions of subscribers.
