US Supreme Court Seems Poised to Uphold Law That Could Ban TikTok

The US Supreme Court seemed inclined on Jan. 10 to uphold a law that could effectively ban TikTok, the wildly popular app used by half the country.

- Adam Liptak

Even as several justices expressed concerns that the law was in tension with the First Amendment, a majority appeared satisfied that it was aimed not at TikTok's speech rights but rather at its ownership, which the government says is controlled by China. The law requires the app's parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok by Jan. 19. If it does not, the law requires the app to be shut down.

The government offered two rationales for the law: combating covert disinformation from China and barring it from harvesting private information about Americans. The court was divided over the first justification. But several justices seemed troubled by the possibility that China could use data culled from the app for espionage or blackmail.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said: "Congress and the President were concerned that China was accessing information about millions of Americans, tens of millions of Americans, including teenagers, people in their 20s."

That data, he added, could be used "over time to develop spies, to turn people, to blackmail people, people who a generation from now will be working in the FBI or the CIA or in the State Department."

Mr. Noel J. Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok, said he did not dispute those risks. But he said the government could address them by means short of effectively ordering the app to, as he put it, "go dark."

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared unpersuaded.

"Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?" he asked.

The court has put the case on an exceptionally fast track, and it is likely to rule by the end of next week. Its decision will be among the most consequential of the digital age, as TikTok has become a cultural phenomenon powered by a sophisticated algorithm that provides entertainment and information touching on nearly every facet of American life.