SCOTUS signals it is likely to uphold the TikTok divest-or-ban law, as a majority of justices suggested they see national security overriding free speech issues
TikTok went before the Supreme Court on Friday for one last attempt to put an end to the impending ban. Stephen Schenck / Android Authority : It may be time to start accepting that the US TikTok ban is actually going to happen Melina Wisecup / NTD : Judge Sentences Trump to ‘Unconditional Discharge’ in NY Case; Supreme Court Reviews TikTok Plea | Capitol Report CGTN : TikTok lawyer hopeful as Supreme Court weighs ban Naomi Li Gan / Tech in Asia : US Supreme Court hears arguments as TikTok ban deadline nears Mizy Clifton / Semafor : US Supreme Court appears inclined to uphold TikTok ban-or-sale law Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Supreme Court reportedly leaning towards upholding TikTok ban Pema Levy / Mother Jones : The Supreme Court May Let TikTok Go Dark Samantha Riedel / them. : Will TikTok Be Banned in the United States? Everything to Know About the SCOTUS Case Ben Guarino / Scientific American : U.S. TikTok Ban Looms as Supreme Court Hears Arguments Lawrence Hurley / NBC News : Supreme Court considers whether to allow TikTok ban to take effect The Guardian : TikTok ban: supreme court appears inclined to uphold law that could see app barred in US - as it happened Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press : The Supreme Court might let the U.S. ban TikTok unless it's sold. Here's what to know. Bluesky: @pwnallthethings : An odd thing with the TikTok punditry is how there's this too-cute rhetorical swap where TikTok is on the one hand just cat videos and silly dances, and so there is no harm if USG closes it, and once that's asserted, it is suddenly now the primary news source of youth, so imperative must be closed @krock1138 : They're worried about national security? They put a felon in office. 😂🍺🍸🥃 @bevymart : Then why don't they apply this to #x #facebook and other social media sites? — They have the EXACT SAME issues regarding #FreeSpeech — Especially #X, which #elonmusk used #russia oligarch money to buy Jon Becker / @jonbecker : As the TikTok case arguments end, I wonder if any of the SCOTUS justices are close to any family members under the age of 25 or so. Will Oremus / @willoremus.com : Oof! First reference to Bluesky in the U.S. Supreme Court comes from Justice Elena Kagan, who uses it as an example of how it isn't just TikTok that has “black box” algorithms, all the social media sites do. — Valid argument, bad example—Bluesky's algorithms are open-source. Eliza Orlins / @elizaorlins : God, I hope the Supreme Court Justices see through the absurd arguments of the US Gov't and do not uphold the TikTok ban. This is outrageous. Truly. — #SCOTUS #TikTokBan Kat Tenbarge / @kattenbarge : Bluesky mentioned by Elena Kagan during the Supreme Court hearing on TikTok: “I mean you can take any of these algorithms, whether it's X, whether it's—what are the new ones? Bluesky” Alan Rozenshtein / @arozenshtein : [Government's turn. This has been very bad for TikTok. Unless the Justices start asking some very hard questions of the government, and quickly, TikTok is completely cooked.] Jenna Ruddock / @ruddock : TikTok oral arguments highlighting how people — including Supreme Court justices — fundamentally don't know how much data every single app, platform, website is collecting about us all the time. Sotomayor is right, these practices are disturbing and invasive — but wrong that they're unique to TikTok Gautam Hans / @gshans : We are not even 25% through allotted time after 1 hour, but it seems to me: — • TikTok has no justices in its corner (maybe the creators will). — Some guesses: — • TikTok's request for a stay will be denied. — • A per curiam opinion upholding the D.C. Circuit's opinion early next week with no dissents. Leah Litman / @leahlitman : I think it's more likely than not that TikTok & TikTok users lose this case 9-0. Gwen Howerton / @kissphoria : each of the supreme court justices should have to do the Apple dance before they ban tiktok Stephen C. Rea / @stevierea : Listening to SCOTUS arguments in the TikTok case, justices expressing “concern” about massive data collection... wait until they learn what every OTHER social media platform does! 🙃 @aclu.org : As we told the Supreme Court in our recent amicus brief: Banning TikTok is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Leah Litman / @leahlitman : 47 minutes into the argument - Francisco isn't done. We've got two more advocates. It's already clear it's over for TikTok. — Just a mess. Gautam Hans / @gshans : Yesterday I thought TikTok would not prevail; today I think it may not get any votes (though we have not yet heard from a few Justices). [embedded post] Steve Vladeck / @stevevladeck : For those trying to handicap the TikTok argument, my own view is that *any* path to five votes for TikTok has to go through Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, and Jackson—and still get surprising help from there. — Sotomayor's early skepticism is ... not an auspicious sign. Genevieve Lakier / @genevievelakier : Oh boy. Sotomayor: “Let's assume TIkTok has some kind of First Amendment right” THINGS NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR TIKTOK SO FAR (Sotomayor is one of the justices who I expected to be most sympathetic to TikTok) Harry Litman / @harrylitman : Meanwhile, TikTok oral argument now has begun in Supreme Court. TikTok attorney arguing the statute keeping platforms from broadcasting the company, b'c it's controlled by an adversary (China), is a restriction on free speech. X: Blake Allen / @blake_allen13 : After listening to the oral arguments, I don't see how SCOTUS does not rule against TikTok and push the forced divestiture. They simply could not get around the fact that their parent company is ultimately/legally obligated to assist Chinese intelligence agencies @geiger_capital : The fact that TikTok would rather shut down and lose it's largest market, instead of just divesting from it's current ownership proves they are controlled by the CCP. This is not how a rational company acts. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Congress tragically failed to think ahead of the implications of America adopting China-style censorship of foreign-owned platforms: it gives all nations, free and authoritarian, license to ban American media outlets and platforms in the nebulous guise of “national security”. McKinley Lettre / @mckinleylettre : I kind of hope tik tok gets banned because I don't have the strength to break my addiction without federal intervention Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : I really hope the Supreme Court intervenes to uphold the freedom of speech in America. To silence a media outlet (however much its critics hate it) violates the rights not only of that media outlet but of all of its potential readers and writers. Ilya Shapiro / @ishapiro : 2. There were few surprises in today's argument: the case will turn on whether TikTok succeeds in convincing a majority of the Court that forcing Chinese Communist Party-owned ByteDance to sell the app or cease operating it in the United States violates the First Amendment. Jason Kint / @jason_kint : Every time US govt argues risk of your data going to China, please know I was told USG never saw this secret internal Facebook report showing tens of thousands of developers in China (and Russia, Syria, Iran) had access to much of our ever more personal data. Facebook buried it. Adam Faze / @adamfaze : Forcing a Chinese company to sell its IP to a US-owned company bc of its success is the least American least capitalistic idea I can think of. If the CCP told Apple its Chinese division had to be Chinese owned, Apple would cease operating in China. Get your head out of your ass. @ecaliberseven : TikTok would literally rather shut itself off from its largest market, than divest its ownership from the CCP. To put it bluntly, these are not the actions of a rational corporation. They're giving the entire game away on who REALLY calls the shots. Trash Jones / @jzux : idk i think they SHOULD ban tiktok. rotted everyone's brains and attention spans, spread insane amounts of propaganda and misinformation, created an artistically bankrupt attention economy that is good for no one Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : The way these idiots just boost right wing talking points and propaganda aimed at restricting our civil liberties w zero thought. They are banning TikTok bc ppl were using it to push back on govt narratives, and ur boosting that authoritarianism! Like wake the fuck up. Ari Cohn / @aricohn : The argument that divestiture could happen after 1/19 and TikTok could come back is completely and utterly irrelevant. Loss of First Amendment rights for even one day is unacceptable. Mike Swift / @swiftstories : Based on the first hour of oral argument on the @tiktok_us before #SCOTUS, I haven't heard a single question from any justice that is remotely sympathetic to the #FirstAmendment arguments of #TikTok Forums: r/inthenews : Supreme Court signals it will uphold ban on TikTok over national security concerns and other takeaways from oral arguments | CNN Politics r/WorldOfTShirts : Supreme Court likely to uphold Tik Tok ban r/worldevents : Supreme Court signals it will uphold ban on TikTok over national security concerns MacRumors Forums : TikTok Ban Looking Likely After U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case See also Mediagazer