TikTok warns of broader consequences if US Supreme Court allows ban
WASHINGTON – The lawyer for TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, issued a warning during Supreme Court arguments over a law that would compel the sale of the short-video app or ban it in the United States: If Congress could do this to TikTok, it could come after other companies, too.
The law, which was the subject of arguments before the nine justices on Friday, sets a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform or face a ban on national security grounds. The companies have sought, at the very least, a delay in the implementation of the law, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgement of free speech.
Noel Francisco, representing TikTok and ByteDance, argued that Supreme Court endorsement of this law could enable statutes targeting other companies on similar grounds.
“AMC movie theatres used to be owned by a Chinese company. Under this theory, Congress could order AMC movie theatres to censor any movies that Congress doesn’t like or promote any movies that Congress wanted,” Francisco told the justices.
Democratic President Joe Biden signed the measure into law, and his administration is defending it in this case. The deadline for divestiture is just one day before Republican Donald Trump, who opposes the ban, takes office as Biden’s successor.
If the ban takes effect on Jan. 19, Apple AAPL.O and Alphabet’s Google GOOGL.O would no longer be able to offer TikTok for downloads for new users, but existing users could still access the app. The U.S. government and TikTok agree that the app would degrade and eventually become unusable over time because companies would not be able to offer supporting services.
