January 10, 2025: a watershed for TikTok users? The US Supreme Court has entered the game
Nine days before TikTok is banned in the US on January 19, 2025, things could turn in the other direction. On January 10, 2025, the US Supreme Court will hear a case brought by TikTok, challenging the ban law.
In a surprising move, the Supreme Court acted almost immediately and scheduled oral arguments for January 10, but has not acted on TikTok's request to pause the law, reports Reuters.
ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, has asked US officials to revise the bill that was signed into law by Biden back in April. This law could force the sale of the ultra-popular short-video app or result in its ban by January 19 on national security grounds.
The law, passed by Congress in April and signed by President Joe Biden, aims to address concerns that TikTok poses a significant national security risk due to its ability to access vast amounts of user data, including private messages and locations, and potentially manipulate content. That's not Facebook or Instagram we're talking about here, keep that in mind.
TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections. They warn that a ban could result in the platform losing a third of its US users within a month, harming its relationships with advertisers, content creators, and employees. In their Supreme Court filing, they emphasized that the First Amendment allows Americans to decide whether to use TikTok, fully informed of any potential risks.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell filed a brief urging the court to avoid delaying the law’s implementation, comparing TikTok to a dangerous criminal. Conversely, President-elect Donald Trump, who unsuccessfully sought to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, has shifted his stance, stating he would reassess the issue after taking office on January 20.
At the end of the day, I don't think that US officials are that preoccupied with private data breaches – call me cynical, but I think TikTok's potential ban is just another part of the US-China economic conflict.
In a surprising move, the Supreme Court acted almost immediately and scheduled oral arguments for January 10, but has not acted on TikTok's request to pause the law, reports Reuters.
The law, passed by Congress in April and signed by President Joe Biden, aims to address concerns that TikTok poses a significant national security risk due to its ability to access vast amounts of user data, including private messages and locations, and potentially manipulate content. That's not Facebook or Instagram we're talking about here, keep that in mind.
TikTok, used by approximately 170 million Americans, denies these allegations, insisting it poses no immediate threat to US security.
TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections. They warn that a ban could result in the platform losing a third of its US users within a month, harming its relationships with advertisers, content creators, and employees. In their Supreme Court filing, they emphasized that the First Amendment allows Americans to decide whether to use TikTok, fully informed of any potential risks.
At the end of the day, I don't think that US officials are that preoccupied with private data breaches – call me cynical, but I think TikTok's potential ban is just another part of the US-China economic conflict.
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