TikTok bans are higher than ever

Right after Biden In April, he signed a bill to ban TikTokThe company and a consortium of its users retaliated by filing a lawsuit accusing the federal government of violating their First Amendment rights. In December, A federal appeals court The ban was upheld, leaving TikTok with only one legal avenue to save itself: an appeal to the Supreme Court.

That’s the same argument many made at Friday’s hearing. Justice Brett Kavanaugh called the government’s data security argument “strong”. Justices Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch questioned the government’s claim that the app could host “covert” Chinese manipulation operations, arguing that TikTok’s algorithm was as opaque as that of other social media companies.

“We all know now that China is behind this,” Kagan said.

Fisher, who represents manufacturers involved in the lawsuit, argued that judges should not have to answer security questions, which would be better addressed by broader data privacy laws.

“If Congress, in this act, regulates data protection in other ways with data brokers, that’s perfectly permissible,” Fisher told the court. “But the question before you today was narrow. The question is, is this law sustainable for security reasons before you? And that answer has to be no,” Fisher told the court.

Justices expressed some skepticism about whether the law actually limits TikTok’s freedom of expression, given the option of sequestration. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said, “TikTok can continue to operate according to its own algorithm, as long as it does not engage with ByteDance.”

If the ban goes into effect, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from the US version of their App Store. Preventing any new downloads in the country. Internet hosting and data storage providers will also be prohibited from offering their services to the company. TikTok users have already downloaded to their devices may continue to have access, at least for a short time after the ban takes effect. Once removed from the App Store, users will not be able to download updates to TikTok and the app may More buggy and difficult to use In time, TikTok’s lawyer told the judges that the app would go dark after January 19.

Blake Reed, a technology law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the judges appeared to target TikTok’s corporate structure, giving the app’s counsel little time to argue the merits of its data protection arguments. “I’m not sure Tiktok will lose that argument, but because they spent so much time on it, they couldn’t argue the national security issues and the privacy and security issues, which I think is the weakest part of the government’s case.”

Justices seem more sympathetic to the government’s security concerns, said Alan Rosenstein, a law professor at the Department of Justice and former national security adviser. “It’s admirable that TikTok received a few votes,” Rosenstein said. “I think maybe three are Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, and maybe Kagan, but I struggle to see TikTok getting the five votes that would be required to repeal this law.”

At a news conference after Friday’s hearing, Francisco said the argument went “really well” and that the justices “examined both sides vigorously.”

It’s unclear when the court will issue its decision, but Rosenstein and Reid believe it will come sooner rather than later. TikTok’s lawyer, Francisco, suggested that judges could issue a stay or injunction to prevent the ban from taking effect as scheduled, but gave no indication whether they would consider it.

In an amicus brief filed last month, Trump appealed to the nation’s highest court to block the ban from taking effect, promising to find a “political” solution to save TikTok once he returns to power. Trump’s lawyer d. “President Trump alone has the final deal-making skills, electoral mandate and political will to negotiate a resolution to protect the platform and address national security concerns,” wrote John Sauer. Filing The court has yet to respond to the brief.

If the judges uphold the ban, a deal with Trump could be TikTok’s last shot at survival.