The United States Supreme Court announced on December 18, 2024, that it will hear the TikTok ban case and has scheduled oral arguments to be held on January 10, 2025, before the ban’s effective date of January 19, 2025.

The case stems from a bipartisan law signed by President Biden that required ByteDance, the Chinese-based parent of the app TikTok, to divest from the app or face a ban in the U.S. because it poses a threat to national security. In addition to being a threat to national security, numerous states have filed suit against TikTok alleging that the app has caused a mental health crisis for youth in the U.S. Forbes has reported on “numerous concerns involving the company, including Tiktok spying on journalists, promoting Chinese propaganda criticizing U.S. politicians, mishandling user data, and tracking ‘sensitive words.’”

ByteDance sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court following a lower federal court’s decision that the ban does not violate TikTok’s First Amendment rights. The district court judge held that if Chinese-owned ByteDance divests from TikTok, the app will be available to users in the U.S.  ByteDance sought emergency relief from the federal circuit court but was denied on December 13, 2024.

The Supreme Court will consider whether the law banning TikTok from the U.S. violates the First Amendment. It is mind-boggling that the Chinese government (which backs ByteDance and is one of the U.S.’s primary cyber adversaries actively engaged in cyber warfare against us) can actually allege it has First Amendment rights in the U.S. Since when can a cyber enemy use our court system to advocate for using spyware against our children? We will be watching the case carefully.