Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The US Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hears oral arguments at 10 am ET today in a closely watched case that could result in TikTok is banned in the United States a day before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20. WIRED reporters Makena Kelly, Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis are tuned in live and will bring you the most important updates from the court and our analysis.
Congress of the past year passed a law which would force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the app or face a US ban. Lawyers for the US Department of Justice plan to make the case that the measure is necessary to mitigate national security risks placed by the app. TikTok will discuss the law stifle free speech of about 170 million Americans.
Here are some of the most pressing questions on our minds: How will the justices interpret Trump’s unusual request last month for the timeline of the case to be delayed until he is in power? The court will be convinced by the DOJ’s arguments about how China could potentially manipulate it TikTok’s algorithm to shape public opinion? How will justice approach the constitutional issues associated with a social media platform that extends far beyond America’s borders?
Also, do the questions the judges ask provide clues about how they might rule in the case? We especially keep our ears tuned to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who took the view in a previous case that foreign social media platforms are not entitled to the same First Amendment protections as American companies. If it returns the same point, it could indicate that TikTok will lose its usually relatively moderate vote on cases involving issues of freedom of speech.
