The US Supreme Court is expected to begin listen to oral arguments at 10 a.m. ET today in a closely watched case that could result in TikTok being banned in the United States a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. WIRED journalists Makena Kelly, Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis are tuning in live and we’ll bring you the biggest updates from the courtroom and our analysis.
Last year, Congress passed a law that would force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the app or face a ban in the United States. Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice plan to argue that the move is necessary to mitigate the national security risks posed by the app. TikTok will argue that the law stifles the free speech of some 170 million Americans.
Here are some of the most pressing questions we’re thinking about: How will the justices interpret Trump’s unusual request last month to delay the case’s timeline until he is in office? Will they be convinced by the Justice Department’s arguments about how China could potentially manipulate TikTok’s algorithm to shape public opinion? How will the justices address the constitutional questions associated with a social media platform that extends far beyond the borders of the United States?
Furthermore, will the questions the judges ask provide any clues as to how they will ultimately decide the case? We are especially attentive to Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who adopted the opinion in a previous case that foreign social media platforms are not entitled to the same First Amendment protections as American companies. If he raises the same point again, it could indicate that TikTok will lose its normally relatively moderate vote in cases involving free speech issues.