US Supreme Court to hear TikTok’s appeal, Trump meets TikTok CEO

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s appeal hoping to overturn a ban that will come into force next month.

The appeal, filed on Monday, December 16, aims to prevent a federal court ruling earlier this year that requires TikTok parent ByteDance to sell its US arm or face a national ban.

While the Supreme Court has not yet disagreed or agreed to the requested injunction against the law, it will now listen to arguments on the matter on January 10.

“We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights,” a TikTok spokesperson said to the BBC.

On the same day as the appeal was made, President-elect Donald Trump met TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, according to reports from CBS News.

Trump publicly opposed the ban and said in a press conference on Monday that he would “take a look at TikTok”.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points,” he said. “There are those that say TikTok has something to do with that. TikTok had an impact.”

His term would begin a day after the potential ban, on 20 January 2025.

The bill introducing the law said the ban would “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary-controlled applications”.

It follows alleged links between TikTok owner ByteDance and the Chinese state, though the social media firm has denied this.

The firm unsuccessfully requested that the law be delayed through a request to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week. This week, the firm is asking the Supreme Court to temporarily block the ban.

“The act will shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration,” TikTok said in a court filing.

“This, in turn, will silence the speech of applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern.”