The Supreme Court of the United States decided this Wednesday (18) that it will analyze whether the possible ban on TikTok in the country violates the First Amendment of the American Constitution.
The court agreed to expedite the case and hear arguments on January 10.
In most cases, even emergency ones, the court reviews written documents from both sides before deciding whether to hear arguments on its regular docket. In this Wednesday’s decision, this procedure was waived and agreed to hear the appeal immediately.
Additionally, the Supreme Court also said it was postponing its consideration of whether to temporarily block the app’s ban until the day of oral arguments, suggesting that the justices could issue a decision just days before the law goes into effect on January 19.
TikTok and ByteDance, its parent company based in China, are appealing the decision of a lower court that upheld the law that could result in the ban of the application — the American Congress approved the measure in April. TikTok is used by about 170 million Americans.
The US Justice Department said that, as a Chinese company, TikTok poses “a national security threat of immense depth and scale” by having access to vast amounts of data about American users, from locations to private messages, and the possibility to secretly manipulate the content that citizens see on the application.
TikTok has said it poses no imminent threat to U.S. security.
Court upholds law against TikTok in the US
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington on December 6 rejected the companies’ arguments.
In its decision, the D.C. Circuit wrote: “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States. Here, the government acted only to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to collect data about people in the United States.”
TikTok denied that it shared or would share U.S. user data, accusing American lawmakers in the process of promoting speculative concerns, and characterized the ban as a “radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet.”
TikTok appeals to the US Supreme Court
The companies asked the Supreme Court on Dec. 16 to suspend the law, which they argued violates free speech protections under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In the lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance highlighted that “if Americans, properly informed about the alleged risks of ‘covert’ content manipulation, choose to continue viewing content on TikTok with their eyes wide open, the First Amendment enjoins them to make that choice , free from government censorship.”
The companies pointed out that, if blocked for up to a month, TikTok would lose about a third of its users in the US and harm its ability to attract advertisers and recruit content creators and employees.
Trump says he will consider banning TikTok
Donald Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok during his first term, promised during this year’s presidential race that he would look into the case.
The Republican noted on December 16 that he has “a special place in my heart for TikTok” and that he would “take a look” at the matter.
Trump takes office on January 20, one day after the deadline for TikTok to be sold or blocked.
*with information from Reuters
This content was originally published in US Supreme Court will analyze TikTok’s appeal to avoid blocking in the country on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
