US Supreme Court agrees to hear TikTok’s challenge to looming ban
Al JazeeraThe top US court will hear arguments on January 10 on whether the law that would ban the platform violates free speech rights. Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s bid to block a law that would ban or compel the sale of the video platform over its links to China. “The parties are directed to brief and argue the following question: Whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to petitioners, violates the First Amendment,” the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. TikTok, which says it has 170 million monthly US users, called the law in a filing to the Supreme Court a “massive and unprecedented speech restriction”, invoking the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. The platform’s lawyers said the ban is motivated by “the content posted by TikTok’s users and alleged editorial choices by TikTok Inc. in disseminating that content”.