Supreme Court takes up challenge to TikTok ban

(The Hill) — The Supreme Court announced it will take up whether a law that could ban TikTok nationwide violates the First Amendment, setting the stage for a fast-paced, high-stakes battle over free speech. 

In an order issued Wednesday, the court said it will hold oral arguments on Jan. 10 on the video-sharing platform’s bid to invalidate the law requiring them to divest from their Chinese parent company or face a ban. 

The move comes after TikTok filed an emergency application asking the justices to delay their Jan. 19 divest-or-ban deadline. The court opted to move the emergency appeal to its normal docket to immediately take up the case in full. 

A federal appeals court upheld the law earlier this month, finding that it did not violate the First Amendment as TikTok has argued. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the government’s national security concerns justified the “significant” impacts of a potential ban and superseded any free speech concerns. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the government’s national security concerns about the app’s ties to China justified the “significant” impacts of a potential ban and superseded any free speech concerns. 

“Fear-mongering about national security cannot obscure the threat that the Act itself poses to all Americans,” TikTok wrote in its Supreme Court appeal.

The Supreme Court set a schedule speedier than normal, with the parties due to submit their opening briefs by Dec. 27.

The timeline will provide the justices an opportunity to issue their ruling before the ban goes into effect and President-elect Trump’s inauguration the following day.

Trump vowed to “save TikTok” during the campaign and has expressed sympathy with the platform. However, the president-elect has offered few concrete details about his plans to protect the app. 

When asked Monday whether he would seek to prevent the ban from taking effect, he said he would “take a look.” 

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, claiming he “won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say that TikTok had something to do with it.”   

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also met with the president-elect at his Palm Beach resort on Monday. 

Updated at 11:30 a.m. ET.