Tik Tok urges Supreme Court to temporarily halt impending ban - ORSOLTECH

supreme court TikTok will hear oral arguments Friday morning on whether the social media platform TikTok should be required to divest from its Chinese-owned parent or be banned in the United States, in a closely watched case that raises national security concerns over free speech protections.

The debate is about the Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Apps Act, or some law Congress passed it last April That gave TikTok nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from US app stores and hosting services.

TikTok's lawyers will argue that the law, which forces a choice between divestment or ban, is a violation of First Amendment protections. They will also assert that lawmakers failed to consider less restrictive alternatives before jumping to an outright ban.

Participants hold signs in support of TikTok outside the US Capitol on March 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers voted to pass a law requiring TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, within nine months. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Biden administration, for its part, will argue that the law focuses solely on the company's control over the app, which administration lawyers say could pose “serious national security threats” to Americans rather than its content.

Administration lawyers will also argue that Congress He imposed no restrictions on speechnot to mention any point-of-view or content-based restrictions, thus fail to meet the test for free speech violations under the First Amendment.