“Sociable” is the most recent commentary on necessary social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today.
TikTok has had a win in its ongoing challenge against the U.S. government’s forced sell-off bill, with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear its plea against the bill, after it was rejected by an appeals court earlier this month.
In what gave the impression of it can have been the ultimate legal avenue for the corporate, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently ruled that TikTok’s argument, that the TikTok sell-off bill violates the First Amendment, shouldn’t be valid on this case as a result of foreign adversary concerns and the potential for that adversary to govern U.S. residents via the app.
Which is what many legal experts had anticipated, that regardless of what constitutional or technical argument TikTok recommend, the actual fact the federal government has invoked national security concerns on this case would overrule any such parameters.
Which, unfortunately for TikTok, also seems prone to be the case again this time around.
In the Supreme Court approval notification, it notes that:
“The parties are directed to transient and argue the next query: Whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to petitioners,
violates the First Amendment.”
So TikTok will be arguing that the very act, which is designed to guard U.S. residents from foreign adversary interference, is unconstitutional.
Which doesn’t seem prone to be a winning argument.
Part of the broader challenge in cases like that is that TikTok can’t counter a number of the claims which are foundational to the federal government’s case, since the detail on foreign adversary concerns is top secret, and/or redacted and never available for direct prosecution. As such, TikTok isn’t being asked to justify itself, or deny any claims around how its app may or will not be utilized by foreign operatives to influence, or gather data on American residents. That’s a complete separate issue, what TikTok’s arguing here is that the foundations, as they stand, will not be justified on this case.
So it’s taking over the basics of the law itself, not the main points of this case.
Which is a much harder battle to win, but however, the Supreme Court must imagine that TikTok has recommend a reputable case, or it wouldn’t have approved the hearing.
But this will likely be TikTok’s last legal avenue to avoid a U.S ban.
Though it can be crucial to notice that this shouldn’t be a ban, as such, as the federal government’s bill isn’t looking for to force the app out, but relatively to sell to an American-based business as a substitute. TikTok has argued that that is tantamount to a ban, because it might not find a way to separate out key elements of its systems, or arrange a sale within the time period outlined (TikTok has till January 19, 2025 to comply).
But the bill itself isn’t a ban, as such. Even though the tip result, based on TikTok’s statements at this stage, will be its removal from the nation.
So will TikTok actually be faraway from U.S. app stores in 30 or so days?
It is looking increasingly likely. And while President-elect Donald Trump did note on the campaign trail that he would save TikTok if elected, in a recent interview, he seemed less committed to doing so, or no less than, less confident that he would find a way to put it aside, based on the present situation.
There are still another avenues for TikTok to contemplate. If it arranged a sale to a U.S. business, for instance, the federal government may grant it an extension to finalize such a deal, which might make sure that it stays lively within the U.S. TikTok was almost sold to an Oracle/Walmart consortium back in 2020, the last time it faced removal from the U.S., and perhaps, the essential framework of that deal may very well be reestablished quickly.
That may very well be one potential option, though whether the Chinese government would allow such is one other query.
There can also be the Trump angle, and after he’s inaugurated next month, Trump can have more avenues to negate the bill, if he’s determined to achieve this.
So not all hope is lost as yet, and again, TikTok should have a fairly compelling case for the Supreme Court to hear. So there are still scenarios by which TikTok stays unaffected for U.S. users.
But time is running out, and right away, the signs will not be great.
The Supreme Court hearing will be held on January 10, 2025.
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