[TikTok. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

The Supreme Court announced their agreement to hear arguments challenging the impending TikTok ban with proceedings scheduled  for January 10th.

The court will have until January 19th to make a decision on the controversial law, which was enacted under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The legislation, originally passed by Congress in April 2024, gave TikTok nine months to sever ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

Failure to comply would result in the platform losing access to US online services.

President-elect Trump, who had initially attempted to ban the app during his presidency, has now emerged as an unexpected ally for the platform.

Trump recently met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 15th to discuss potential ways to “save TikTok.” 

He cited the platform’s importance in reaching young voters and expressed having a “warm spot” for the app. 

TikTok maintains that the ban violates its users’ First Amendment rights and argues that they were not adequately consulted during the legislative process.

The company further contends that they cannot be forced to sell their operations.

Adding complexity to the situation, the Chinese government has stated it will not allow the sale of the algorithm that personalizes content for users, meaning any transfer of ownership would require a complete restructuring of the platform’s core technology.

In their legal position, TikTok emphasized that their software code and other components were developed through extensive research and engineering efforts by thousands of professionals.

However, Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in his opinion, “TikTok's millions of users will need to find alternative media of communication…that burden is attributable to the [People's Republic of China's] hybrid commercial threat to U.S. national security, not to the U.S. Government, which engaged with TikTok through a multi-year process in an effort to find an alternative solution."

While the ban’s collision with First Amendment rights was expected to face Supreme Court scrutiny, the D.C. Circuit ruled on December 6th that the ban met constitutional requirements, citing its adherence to strict standards for government restrictions.

In a notable expansion of the proceedings, the Supreme Court will not only hear arguments from TikTok’s attorneys but has also agreed to consider perspectives from platform users opposing the ban.