(Tampa Free Press)—The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on January 10, 2025, in a pivotal case challenging the federal government’s TikTok ban, set to take effect on January 19. The hearing consolidates three separate legal challenges to the ban, including one filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of the nonprofit BASED Politics.
The Court’s decision on this case could have sweeping implications for First Amendment rights, national security, and digital platforms used by over 170 million Americans.
In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which targets applications like TikTok deemed to pose national security risks due to their ties to foreign adversaries.
The Act effectively prohibits TikTok’s operation in the United States unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership to a non-Chinese entity by January 19, 2025. ByteDance has stated that compliance by the deadline is unfeasible.
The ban would make it illegal for app stores to distribute TikTok to U.S. users or for the app to be hosted on U.S.-based servers. Opponents of the ban argue that it constitutes an unprecedented form of censorship and violates the First Amendment by restricting constitutionally protected speech.
The Supreme Court hearing will address three consolidated lawsuits:
- Liberty Justice Center’s Challenge: Filed on behalf of BASED Politics, this lawsuit asserts that the TikTok ban infringes on the First Amendment by prohibiting lawful speech on the platform.
- TikTok Creators’ Lawsuit: A group of content creators argues that the ban restricts their ability to communicate and earn a living through the app.
- TikTok and ByteDance Appeal: TikTok and its parent company contend that the Act unlawfully targets the platform without sufficient evidence of a national security threat.
In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the constitutionality of the ban, rejecting these challenges. Subsequently, the challengers filed emergency petitions asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
The Court granted the petitions on December 18 and scheduled oral arguments for January 10.
With the TikTok ban set to take effect just nine days after the hearing, the Supreme Court’s decision is expected to have an immediate impact. A ruling against the ban could set a precedent for protecting digital platforms from government interference, while upholding the ban would mark a significant shift in how the U.S. balances national security concerns with free speech rights.
The case will also likely shape President-elect Donald Trump’s approach to addressing the TikTok issue upon taking office on January 20.