The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge to a law that could ban the popular social media platform in the US. The court has scheduled oral arguments for January 10, just nine days before the ban is set to take effect on January 19.
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, argue that the law violates the First Amendment by restricting Americans’ ability to share and access content on the platform. The company claims that a ban would cause it to lose about a third of its US users and undermine its ability to attract advertisers and recruit content creators.
The law in question was passed by Congress in April, citing national security concerns due to TikTok’s access to vast amounts of data on American users. The Justice Department has said that TikTok poses “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale”.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a significant development, as it could have far-reaching implications for the future of social media regulation in the US. The court’s ruling could also impact other social media companies operating in the US.
