of supreme court The company agreed Wednesday to hear TikTok’s bid to block the law that could lead to a ban on the popular social media app, pending the company’s appeal of a lower court ruling upholding the law. did.
The Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments in the case for Jan. 10, nine days before the law takes effect.
The high court’s order came two days after TikTok filed a motion seeking an injunction against the law.
“Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and ban them from operating one of the most important speech platforms in this country raises serious constitutional questions,” the company said in its filing. “The courts probably won’t accept this.”
The law would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app by January 19 or force Google, Apple and other platforms to stop supporting the app in the United States.
Congress passed the Foreign Adversary Control Applications Act, citing concerns that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a national security risk.
On December 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Department of Justice had presented “compelling evidence that the Divestment Act was narrowly designed to protect national security.” The court upheld the law.
President-elect Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Sho Zhi Chu on Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., to discuss the company’s decision to reach the Supreme Court. It was the same day I requested that the lawsuit be filed.
Asked about the possibility of a ban, President Trump told reporters on the same day that he would “look into TikTok.”
“You know, I have a really warm spot for TikTok,” Trump said, noting that the app boosted Trump’s support among young voters during the November election. suggested.
Jeff Yass, one of President Trump’s key supporters, is co-founder and managing director of Susquehanna International Group, a significant investor in ByteDance.
-CNBC Laura Kolodny Contributed to this article.
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