US Supreme Court to hear challenge to ban TikTok ahead of looming deadline
India TodayThe US Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to hear a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by January 19 or face a ban on national security grounds. TikTok and ByteDance asked the Supreme Court on December 16 to pause the law, which they said violates free speech protections under the US Constitution's First Amendment. "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 company said. In their filing to the Supreme Court, TikTok and ByteDance said that "if Americans, duly informed of the alleged risks of 'covert' content manipulation, choose to continue viewing content on TikTok with their eyes wide open, the First Amendment entrusts them with making that choice, free from the government's censorship".