On Friday, Jan. 10, the Supreme Court heard TikTok’s argument against the “ban or sell” law. Namely, that it compromises American citizens’ First Amendment right to free speech.
According to the BBC, TikTok’s lawyer also argued that they should be free to “work with the publishers of their choice.” The outlet also claims that the US government’s lawyers reiterated their belief that TikTok faces a “grave threat” to national security due to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, having links to China.
While the Supreme Court hasn’t issued a ruling yet, experts are all saying the same thing: that they’re likely to side with the government.
Experts Respond to Supreme Court TikTok Discussion
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the BBC that “traditionally, the Supreme Court has been willing to defer somewhat when national security is at stake.”
“I expect that the justices by a majority will side with the government,” he added.
Similarly, Matthew Schettenhelm, a litigation and policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told Business Insider that he expects the court to both deny the stay and to uphold the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
Meanwhile, former Justice Department official and current University of Minnesota law professor Alan Rozenshtein told the outlet that while the government “got hard questions in a way that it did not at the DC Circuit,” he doesn’t think it’ll be enough. “I still think the most likely outcome is the law will be upheld,” he added.
What’s Next for TikTok?
The discussion, which involved nine justices, lasted for nearly three hours.
It’s expected that a ruling will be confirmed before the Jan. 19 deadline for TikTok to cut ties with ByteDance or face a ban. Things will then get even more complicated as Donald Trump, who has pledged to “save TikTok,” is inaugurated the following day.
In the meantime, all we can do is watch and wait.
