US Supreme Court leans towards TikTok ban over security concerns

In December, US President-elect Donald Trump urged the court to delay its decision until he returns to the White House to enable him to seek a “political solution” to resolve the issues at hand.

TikTok’s lawyer told the court on Friday that, as he saw it, the platform would “go dark” on 19 January without intervention.

Ms Prelogar, arguing for the US justice department, said “nothing permanent” had to happen on that day and there was still time for a sale.

Forcing the app to go dark could be just the “jolt” ByteDance needs to seriously consider a sale, she said.

“It will fundamentally change the landscape with respect to what ByteDance might consider,” she said, comparing the situation to “game of chicken” and one in which the US should not “blink first”.

After the hearing, legal observers predicted that the Supreme Court’s justices appeared to be swayed by the government’s concerns.

“Traditionally the Supreme Court has been willing to defer somewhat when national security is at stake,” said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias.

“I expect that the justices by a majority will side with the government,” he added.

Jacob Hubert, a lawyer and the president of the Liberty Justice Center – which represents BASED Politics, an internet content creator – said it was still difficult to predict how the court would rule.

But he says the ban would violate the freedom of speech of millions of Americans – a point he believes was effectively made by TikTok’s lawyers.

“It’s not about China’s rights, or the Communist Party’s rights,” he said. “It is about the rights of Americans who use TikTok to, largely, speak with other Americans.”

More than a hundred people braved freezing conditions in Washington DC to attend the hearing in person.

Chloe Joy Sexton – one of the TikTok creators named in the suit – said that the platform brought many creators “financial independence”, including many mothers.

“A TikTok ban would place these women, myself included, in true financial jeopardy,” she told reporters. “It would destroy both my business and the community that means so much to me.”

Danielle Ballesteros, a student at UC San Diego, said had been waiting outside the court since 06:30 local time.

“I feel like TikTok doesn’t deserve to be banned,” she told BBC News.

While admitting to using it “probably too much”, she said she believes the app to be an important news source for her generation.