TikTok is fighting an impending ban in the US Supreme Court. What you need to know

The company that owns TikTok will head to the US Supreme Court on Friday to try to stave off a new law that would lead to the popular social media app being banned later this month.

The law prohibits companies such as Apple and Google from making the TikTok application available to users in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, based in China, sells it.

The ban is scheduled to take effect on January 19, one day before Donald Trump is inaugurated as president.

The US Supreme Court is hearing ByteDance’s latest attempt to overturn the ban as unconstitutional.

Here’s what you need to know.

Why do US lawmakers want to ban TikTok?

The US government views TikTok’s Chinese ownership as a “serious national security threat” because the Chinese government has the ability to force ByteDance to hand over user data and because of fear that China may use TikTok’s powerful algorithm to spread misinformation.

“TikTok’s collection of sensitive data about 170 million Americans and their contacts makes it a powerful tool for espionage, and TikTok’s role as a key communication channel makes it a powerful weapon for covert influence operations,” U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a statement. A Government brief To court.

The government says the law is not intended to restrict users’ freedom of expression but instead aims to end a foreign adversary’s control over TikTok.

How will the ban work?

the The law will ban TikTok in the United States If ByteDance fails, it will divest its ownership of the app and sell it to a non-Chinese company by January 19.

It makes it illegal for anyone to “distribute, maintain, or update the app” in the United States and carries the threat of hefty fines of up to $5,000 per user against anyone who breaks the law.

This means that the order will not immediately affect anyone who has already downloaded TikTok, but app stores will no longer be allowed to carry TikTok in the US, and users will not be able to get upgrades or newer versions of the app.

Congress passed the bill last year with strong bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, before President Joe Biden. I signed it in law.

What will the Supreme Court case hinge on?

Gus Horowitz, academic director of the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition at the University of California, said the case amounts to a conflict between two fundamental principles of American law: the First Amendment right to free speech versus the government’s power to determine national security concerns. Curry Law School of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

ByteDance’s position is that the intended effect of the law is to prevent the company from talking to Americans, Horowitz said.

“The company is making a clear, straightforward First Amendment-style argument here, which is that it is a speech platform, and that it is no different in many respects from a newspaper or a magazine or any other website,” Horowitz said in an interview with CBC News. .

ByteDance’s argument is “a little weak,” said Freddy Tran Nager, associate director of the Digital Social Media Program at USC Annenberg.

“This legislation does not ban TikTok based on its content,” Nager said in an interview. “The concerns are about data privacy, specifically the data of American citizens.”

Can the US legally force a change of ownership on TikTok?

The United States has a long history of restricting foreign ownership of broadcast outlets such as radio stations and television networks, but restricting ownership of social media platforms represents a new frontier.

Kate Rowan, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, D.C., called the law unprecedented.

“Banning an entire speech platform within the United States is a violation of the Constitution at the highest level,” Rowan said in an interview.

“It prevents 170 million TikTok users from using their chosen medium to communicate online in ways unrelated to the government’s stated concerns,” she added.

The ban could be avoided if ByteDance begins negotiations to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner, but the company has given no indication that this will happen.

What is the sentencing timeline?

The Supreme Court agreed with A Quick hearing case, given the law’s impending January 19 implementation date.

“I expect that if the court sides with TikTok, we will hear from it very quickly,” Horowitz said, likely next week. “If an injunction is not issued immediately… I would interpret this silence to mean with very high confidence that the court will decide against TikTok.”

What will happen once Donald Trump takes office?

Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, one day after the ban goes into effect. After favoring a ban on TikTok during his first term, he did so Change his tune. Trump now wants to stop the law, and his lawyers have filed a lawsuit “Friend of the Curiae” brief. On his behalf before Friday’s session.

“President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this point, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues raised through political means once he takes office,” the summary said.

Nager said he suspects the incoming Trump administration “would like to acquire TikTok as part of a larger package of negotiations (with China), whether it’s tariffs, other imports, or other military agreements.”

Horowitz said Trump could issue an executive order delaying implementation of the law, but added that in the long term, the new president is unlikely to use his political capital to try to repeal the law when so many Republican lawmakers are so vocally opposed to China. Application ownership.

Will Canada be affected?

The ban on TikTok distribution only applies to entities in the United States

Separately, the federal government in November ordered TikTok to shut down Stop its business operations In Canada, but it does not limit the availability of the app.