The US supreme court’s TikTok case will put free expression on the line | Trevor Timm

Let’s hope the court does the right thing, and strikes down this potential censorship before it spins out of control

The US supreme court surprisingly decided, this week, to hear TikTok’s emergency appeal to its imminent ban in the United States. It may be the most important case at the intersection of the first amendment and national security in decades. Whether or not you see China as a nefarious threat, all Americans who care about free expression should worry about the precedent this case could set – and should want the TikTok ban overturned.

After a fifth circuit court of appeals ruling earlier this month, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has until 19 January to either sell the popular video-sharing app or face a nationwide ban. The decision stems from Congress passing a law last year that essentially proclaims that if the government says a foreign-owned platform threatens national security, then it can force its sale or censor it.

Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation

Topics

US Supreme Court to hear TikTok challenge to potential ban

The US wants the app to be sold or banned because of what it says are links to the Chinese state.
BBC News - 2d
Supreme Court agrees to hear case about TikTok ban

The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will hear an appeal from TikTok over a federal law that would ban the social media giant if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company. Jan Crawford has more.
CBS News - 3d
Supreme Court Fast-Tracks TikTok Case in Face of Jan. 19 Deadline

The company and its Chinese parent invoked the First Amendment in urging the justices to step in before a deadline to sell or be shut down.
The New York Times - 3d
Supreme Court Fast-Tracks TikTok Case in Face of Jan. 19 Deadline

The company and its Chinese parent invoked the First Amendment in urging the justices to step in before a deadline to sell or be shut down.
The New York Times - 3d
Supreme Court to Consider TikTok Ban

The court scheduled fast-track oral arguments for Jan. 10 on whether the law violates the First Amendment.
The Wall Street Journal - 3d
US Supreme Court will review TikTok divest-or-ban law

Arguments to be heard about a week before the measure is set to take effect
Financial Times - 3d
TikTok pushes for Supreme Court reprieve

Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter {beacon} Technology Technology The Big Story TikTok asks Supreme Court to delay ban An emergency appeal filed on Monday seeks to delay a law that ...
The Hill - 5d
Court denies TikTok's request to halt enforcement of potential US ban until Supreme Court review

A federal appeals court has left in place a mid-January deadline in a federal law requiring TikTok to be sold or face a ban in the United States
ABC News - Dec. 14
TikTok asks court to put divest-or-ban law on hold amid Supreme Court appeal

TikTok asked a federal appeals court Monday to put on hold a law that could potentially ban the popular social media app next month as it prepares to appeal to the Supreme Court. TikTok and ...
The Hill - Dec. 9