TikTok plans to shut down in U.S. unless Supreme Court strikes down law requiring sale

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TikTok plans to shut down its U.S. operations by January 19 if the Supreme Court does not strike down or delay enforcement of a new law requiring its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations. The court considered arguments in a landmark case that compared the right to free speech to national security concerns. The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April after winning bipartisan support in Congress, requires TikTok to either be sold by ByteDance or cease operating in the United States. TikTok and ByteDance argue the law violates the First Amendment, with the app's lawyers describing it as a “dramatic overreach” that infringes on free speech protections. Content creators and users have joined TikTok in the case, underscoring the platform's role as an important space for entertainment, culture and livelihoods for its 150 million U.S. users. attorneys for TikTok users and creators wrote in a brief. The Biden administration has defended the law, claiming ByteDance's ownership of TikTok poses a serious national security risk. Officials believe the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or manipulate the platform for propaganda. However, TikTok's lawyers argued there was no evidence such behavior had occurred, calling the concerns “hypothetical” and insufficient to justify restrictions on speech. President-elect Donald Trump also offered a political twist, urging courts to delay the ban, arguing his incoming administration could negotiate a political solution. In a legal brief, Trump's team argued that he had the “transactional expertise” to address national security concerns without banning the app. Trump, who has more than 14.7 million followers, used the platform extensively during the campaign to connect with young voters. TikTok has warned that even a brief shutdown could devastate the platform, causing it to lose up to a third of its daily U.S. users as well as significant ad revenue. Like this: Like Loading… Discover more from Baller Alert Subscribe to get the latest posts delivered to your email.

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