
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to take up TikTok's appeal against a law that would compel its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the platform or face its shutdown in the United States, AFP reports.
Oral arguments are set for January 10, just nine days before the potential ban on TikTok goes into place.
The legislation, enacted by President Joe Biden in April, would prevent TikTok from being available in US app stores and on web hosting services if ByteDance fails to sell its stake by the deadline.
TikTok claims that the law, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, infringes on its First Amendment rights to free speech.
"Congress has enacted a massive and unprecedented speech restriction," TikTok stated in its Supreme Court filing.
The company warned that if the law goes into effect, it would "shutter one of America's most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration," thereby "silencing the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern."
"Applicants -- as well as countless small businesses who rely on the platform -- also will suffer substantial and unrecoverable monetary and competitive harms."
A TikTok spokesman expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court's decision to hear the case, stating, "We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights."
The legislation against TikTok was part of a series of moves in the US aimed at limiting the application. Last February, the White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices and systems.
In addition, several states and cities have restricted TikTok on government devices, including the state of Montana, which passed a bill banning the app across the state, and New York City, which banned TikTok on government-owned devices in August of 2023, citing security concerns.
President-elect Donald Trump, who previously supported a TikTok ban but later pledged during his campaign to “save TikTok,” indicated that his administration would review the matter.
Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to two individuals familiar with the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity.