A lawyer for TikTok argued before the Supreme Court on Friday that a ban on the social network would violate TikTok’s and Americans’ First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court this morning heard arguments on whether to overturn or delay a law that could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S.
The bill, officially titled the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, gives TikTok parent company ByteDance until January 19, 2025 to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban in the country. Friday’s session comes just nine days before the sell-or-ban deadline.
TikTok’s lawyer, Noel Francisco, made it clear that the social network will essentially shut down on January 19 unless the Supreme Court intervenes. He also alluded to President-elect Donald Trump’s support for the app.
“The platform shuts down unless there’s a divestiture, unless President Trump exercises his authority to extend it,” Francisco said. “But, he can’t do that on January 19. On January 19, we still have President Biden. And on January 19, as I understand it, we shut down. It is possible that come January 20, 21st 22nd we might be in a different world. Again, that’s one of the reasons why I think it makes perfect sense to issue a preliminary injunction here, and simply buy everybody a little breathing space.”
Francisco argued that TikTok’s “For You” algorithm should be protected by free speech rights, as it represents the company’s editorial desecration over the content it distributes.
When asked if the problem with the sell-or-ban law is the limited timeframe to divest the social network, Francisco argued that a divesture of the app would not be feasible under any timeline. TikTok has continuously argued that …