MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
TikTok and the Department of Justice are heading to the Supreme Court. The court accepted TikTok's emergency request to hear arguments about a law that could ban the viral video app next month. NPR's Bobby Allyn is with us to talk about what this could mean. Good morning, Bobby.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So why is the Supreme Court stepping in?
ALLYN: Well, in short, because TikTok requested an emergency review. And this is TikTok's last legal shot, right? The company has been fighting a law that is set to take effect on January 19 that bans the app nationwide unless it splits off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. It recently lost a lower court appeal. And now the Supreme Court has scheduled expedited oral arguments, and the hearing is happening in three weeks.
MARTIN: What are the main issues the court is being asked to resolve?
ALLYN: Yeah, the case is about the balance between free speech and the possible threat of a foreign adversary. TikTok has long said that the Chinese government doesn't collect data on Americans and does not use the app to push propaganda. But U.S. officials say the risk of that happening is just too high and that the app has to be put out of business unless it sheds its China-based owner. Legal scholars say because of the First Amendment, government restrictions on speech are very hard to uphold in court. Usually, the government can only suppress speech if it's really narrowly tailored to deal with a, you know, really specific problem. And a lower court ruled that the Chinese issue is actually enough to justify the ban. But now the Supreme Court is reviewing it, and they could just come down differently.
MARTIN: So it's TikTok's argument that this ban violates Americans' free speech rights?
ALLYN: Yeah, that's right. The 170 million Americans on the app and, actually, TikTok's own free speech rights, they say, as a corporation, because they have a LA-based company. And using the algorithm and pushing content, courts have shown, is another type of free speech. So there's kind of two free speeches at play here.
MARTIN: OK, so what could this mean for the tens of millions of Americans who use TikTok? I mean, some people use it every day.
ALLYN: Oh, yeah. Yeah, so if the court overturns the law, you know, business as usual for the app. But if it is upheld, it could mean the app is going away very soon. The law is slated to start, you know, in early January. And at that point, TikTok, you know, will be kicked out of app stores on Apple and Android devices, so you won't be able to download it. And the app will lose web hosting services. So, you know, all the companies that provide back end support for TikTok, they'll have to drop the company.
And if this happens, Michel, it's not like the app is going to, like, disappear from everyone's phone overnight or something. It's just going to get buggy. It's going to get slow. And eventually, it's not going to be able to get software updates, so it'll stop working. You know, backing up for a moment here, though, you know, never before has the Supreme Court taken on a case over the U.S. government trying to shut down a massive social media platform, so this is entering some uncharted territory. And, you know, President-elect Donald Trump's administration is watching very closely.
MARTIN: And where does Trump stand on this?
ALLYN: Trump has given mixed signals on TikTok. He said he wanted to save the app and that he credits it with helping young voters turn out for him. But, you know, just this weekend, he said on NBC's "Meet The Press" if he will rescue the app, and he gave kind of an unclear, wishy-washy answer. Remember, Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term and was not successful. No matter what the court decides, though, the Trump administration has a ton of power here. If the Supreme Court upholds this law, his administration will be tasked with interpreting and enforcing it. So if TikTok loses at the Supreme Court, they're hoping Trump will just step in and rescue the app anyway.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Bobby Allyn. Bobby, thank you.
ALLYN: Thanks, Michel.
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