The Supreme Court’s decision to fast-track the case comes as President-elect Trump has signaled apparent support for the app in recent months.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.; and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., filed a brief Thursday urging the Supreme Court to reverse the ban, arguing the lawmakers do not have sufficient evidence needed to outweigh free speech protections granted under the First Amendment.
In the brief, lawmakers referenced the nation’s longtime reliance on national security claims as a means of justifying censorship, citing examples from the Sedition Acts of the 18th and 20th centuries and Cold War-era free speech restrictions. Banning TikTok due to “speculative concerns” about foreign interference, they argued, is “unconstitutional and contradicts fundamental American values.”
Political pressures
Lawyers for TikTok argued that the law violates First Amendment protections, describing it as an “unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation” and noting that lawmakers failed to consider less restrictive alternatives compared to an outright ban.
“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump told reporters.
They argued the U.S. could adopt less drastic measures that would effectively address any data security concerns posed by the app while also not infringing on First Amendment rights.
The brief did not signal how Trump might act.
The court agreed in December to hold an expedited hearing on the case, giving it just nine days to decide whether to uphold TikTok’s request to halt or delay the ban passed by Congress before it takes effect Jan. 19.
“There is a strong public interest that this Court have the opportunity to exercise plenary review.
That evidence has not been released to the public.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act gave TikTok nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company or be removed from U.S. app stores and hosting services. Its owners have said repeatedly they will not do so. It also grants the president a 90-day window to delay the ban if TikTok says a divestiture is in progress.
Lawyers for the administration will argue Friday that Congress did not impose any restrictions on speech— much less any restrictions based on viewpoint or on content — and failed to satisfy the test of free speech violations under the First Amendment.
Congress has cited concerns that China, a country it considers a foreign adversary of the U.S., could use TikTok to download vast troves of user data and push certain Chinese government-backed content onto users, prompting it to order the divestiture last spring.
Others remained deeply opposed.
Beijing could “covertly manipulate the platform” to advance geopolitical interests in the U.S., Prelogar noted, or use the vast amount of user data it has amassed for either espionage or blackmail.
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