The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear arguments by TikTok seeking to block a law that could lead to a ban of the popular social media app pending the company’s appeal of a lower-court ruling upholding the law.
The Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments in the case for Jan. 10, nine days before the law is set to take effect.
The high court’s order came two days after TikTok filed its petition seeking an injunction against the law.
“Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation presents grave constitutional problems that this court likely will not allow to stand,” the company said in that application.
The law would require TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by Jan. 19 or force Google, Apple and other platforms to stop supporting the app in the United States.
Congress passed the law, the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, over concerns that TikTok’s Chinese ownership presented a national security risk.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the law on Dec. 6, ruling that the Department of Justice had “offered persuasive evidence demonstrating that” the divestment law “is narrowly tailored to protect national security.”
President-elect Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, the same day that the company asked the Supreme Court to take its case.
Trump earlier that day told reporters, “We’ll take a look at TikTok,” when asked about the potential ban.
“You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said, suggesting that the app had boosted support for him from young voters during the election in November.
Jeff Yass, one of Trump’s major backers, is the co-founder and managing director of Susquehanna International Group, a significant investor in ByteDance.
– CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this article.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
