TikTok fought on Sept. 16th to stop a ban that would ban the app from being used nationwide. The Supreme Court seemed indifferent in the case. Three of the judges on the panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit were leaning more against TikTok, as the parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. With this, however, the Supreme Court is concerned that banning TikTok could be going against the Constitution’s first amendment.
In April, President Joe Biden signed a law stating that ByteDance has 90 days to sell TikTok to a different company in the U.S., or the app would be banned throughout the country. This law will go into effect on Jan. 19th. If the case drags on, then it is likely to be extended longer. This is because of the controversy surrounding the subject, with many believing this would violate the First Amendment.
With this, there are issues with TikTok stating that they are being singled out. The lawyers for TikTok claim that it would be a gross violation of the First Amendment to shut down a service that over 170 million Americans use. The company has stated that the government should have to go through “strict scrutiny” of the company, based on the rules set by Congress. Along with this, the company has stated that they have not done this, as they have not exhausted all other options before trying to ban the company outright.
