TikTok has turned to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a law that could force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a shutdown by next month.
On the same day, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reportedly met with President-elect Donald Trump, as shared in an NBC News report. At a press conference, Trump expressed mixed feelings, stating he has “a warm spot” for the app while acknowledging his administration would review its potential ban.
The law, signed in April by President Joe Biden, gives TikTok until January 19 to divest from ByteDance or risk being blocked from U.S. app stores and web services. TikTok has requested the Supreme Court to pause the law while it continues to challenge a lower court’s decision upholding the legislation, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
In its Supreme Court filing, TikTok described the law as an “unprecedented restriction” on free speech, emphasizing its impact on the platform’s 170 million monthly U.S. users. According to the company, enforcing the law would effectively silence users and harm businesses that rely on the app.
The potential ban also carries diplomatic implications, possibly straining U.S.-China relations ahead of Trump’s upcoming inauguration. Ironically, Trump, who previously sought to ban TikTok during his first term due to security concerns, now appears more supportive of the platform.
This shift aligns with criticism from conservatives accusing Meta, the parent company of Facebook, of suppressing right-wing content, including Trump’s ban from the platform following the Capitol riot in January 2021.
The U.S. government maintains that TikTok poses national security risks, alleging it enables data collection and propaganda distribution by Beijing—claims that both China and ByteDance deny. Despite TikTok’s pushback, a U.S. appeals court recently upheld the argument that separating the app from Chinese ownership is necessary to safeguard national security.
