Chicago – December 18, 2024
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will review a law that could force TikTok to sell or face a ban in the United States. The case centers on whether the law violates the First Amendment, which protects free speech.
The Court will hear arguments on January 10 but has not yet decided whether to pause the law’s deadline for TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 19.
TikTok is challenging a lower court’s ruling, which allowed the law, arguing that it restricts the free speech rights of millions of American users. The law requires ByteDance to sell TikTok, or the app will be banned from U.S. app stores and hosting services.
TikTok had asked the Supreme Court to decide by January 6 whether to pause the deadline to give app stores and hosting services time to prepare. While the Court did not decide by that date, TikTok expressed hope that it will ultimately rule the ban unconstitutional. A spokesperson said they believe the ruling will protect the rights of TikTok’s 170 million American users.
