US Supreme Court criticizes TikTok’s arguments against impending ban | Social Media News

Justices at the United States Supreme Court were skeptical of the challenge as video-sharing platform TikTok sought to overturn a law that would have forced or prohibited the sale of the app until January 19.

Friday’s hearing is the latest in a legal saga that has pitted the U.S. government against TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, over free speech and national security concerns.

The law in question was signed into law in April and states that ByteDance will face a deadline to sell its US shares or face a ban.

The bill had strong bipartisan support, with lawmakers citing fears that China-based ByteDance could collect user data and pass it on to the Chinese government. US President Joe Biden finally signed became law.

But ByteDance and TikTok users challenged the law’s constitutionality, arguing that banning the app would limit their free speech rights.

During oral arguments Friday, the Supreme Court was swayed by the government’s position that the app allows the Chinese government to spy on Americans and conduct covert influence operations.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito also raised the possibility of issuing something called an administrative stay, which would temporarily suspend the law while the trial decides how to proceed.

The Supreme Court hearing comes at a time of continued trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.

There was President-elect Donald Trump, who would begin his second term a day after the ban began promised to “save” the platform during the presidential campaign.

This marks a reversal from his first term in office where he unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok.

In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to stay the law to give his administration “an opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the issues at issue in the case.”

Noel Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance, told the court that the law risks shutting down one of the most popular platforms in the United States.

“This movement must not stop,” said Francisco. He dismissed fears that “Americans, even if fully informed, could be persuaded by Chinese disinformation” as “a decision that the First Amendment leaves to the people.”

Francisco asked the justices to at least temporarily stay the law “which will allow them to carefully consider this important issue and potentially discuss the case for the reasons explained by the president-elect.”

Weaponize ‘TikTok’ to hurt the US

TikTok has about 170 million American users, which is about half of the US population.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued for the Biden administration that China’s control over TikTok poses a serious threat to US national security.

The vast amount of information the app can collect about users and their contacts could give China a powerful tool for harassment, recruitment and espionage, he explained.

China could then “weaponize TikTok at any time to harm the US.”

Prelogar added that the First Amendment does not prohibit Congress from taking steps to protect Americans and their information.

At Friday’s hearing, several judges seemed to accept those arguments. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts pressed TikTok’s lawyers over the company’s Chinese presence.

“Should we ignore the fact that the real parent is doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” Roberts asked.

“It seems to me that you’re ignoring the main concern of Congress here — which was China’s manipulation of content and the acquisition and collection of content.”

“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok,” Roberts added, brushing aside free speech arguments.

Left-leaning Justice Elena Kagan also suggested that April’s TikTok law was “just targeting this foreign corporation that has no First Amendment rights.”

There were TikTok, ByteDance and app users applied a lower court ruling upholding the law and rejecting arguments that it violated the First Amendment protections of free speech in the US Constitution.