TikTok isn’t giving up the fight to stay in the US – the Supreme Court said that it will hear the case on January 10, just days before the app faces a ban in the US. While the Supreme Court agreed to take the case, it didn’t make a move to pause or suspend the January 19 deadline requiring ByteDance to sell the TikTok app or be removed from app stores in the US.
According to NBC News, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case just days after ByteDance appealed the court's earlier decision. The hearing is scheduled to begin on January 10, when the Supreme court will decide whether or not the legislation banning the app violates the constitution and free speech rights.
The case stems from a bipartisan law signed by President Joe Biden called Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The legislation requires ByteDance to sell the TikTok app to a US owner by January 19, 2025.
If the company does not sell, the legislation would prohibit the App Store, Google Play, and similar platforms from allowing downloads of TikTok. That means that, while the app wouldn’t immediately disappear from US phones, current users in the US would no longer be able to update the app. Similarly, internet providers would be required to block the app on web browsers in the US.
The legislation stems from national security concern over the possibility of the Chinese government procuring American data from the app. ByteDance, however, believes the legislation violates free speech. “We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights," the company said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia disagreed with TikTok’s claims that the law violated free speech, upholding the legislation and keeping the pending January 19 ban in place.
The January 19 deadline falls just before President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to take office. According to USA Today, Trump previously declared a national emergency in 2019 and prohibited transactions with ByteDance. However, on Monday, Trump said he had “a little bit of a warm spot in my heart” for the app and said, “we’re taking a look at it.”
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