The Supreme Court will hear TikTok’s challenge to its impending U.S. ban on January 10, 2025, just nine days before the prohibition is set to take effect. The ban, passed earlier this year with bipartisan congressional support, requires TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the popular video-sharing app or face removal from all U.S. app stores.
TikTok argues the ban violates the First Amendment, calling it an unconstitutional restriction on free speech. The company’s emergency application to the Supreme Court follows a string of legal defeats, including last week’s denial by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to delay the law’s implementation.
“Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation presents grave constitutional problems,” TikTok stated in its filing.
National security concerns have driven U.S. lawmakers’ actions against TikTok, with allegations that its Chinese ownership could facilitate data sharing with the Chinese Communist Party. President Joe Biden signed the ban into law in April, escalating pressure on ByteDance to divest from the app.
Adding a twist, TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with President-elect Donald Trump this week, who has expressed newfound support for the app despite his previous efforts to ban it during his first administration. The ban is scheduled to take effect on January 19, 2025, one day before Trump’s second inauguration.
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