This is the last resort before January 19, the day TikTok is expected to withdraw from the American market unless it is sold: the hearing that should seal the fate of the Chinese social network in the United States begins this Friday, January 10, before the American Supreme Court. The highest American court, which will hear the arguments of each party this Friday, has two options:
- Either it gives priority to freedom of expression, by declaring the law of last April unconstitutional;
- or it opts for national security, invoked by the Joe Biden administration to justify the law.
This legislation gives an ultimatum to TikTok, accused in the country of being "the Trojan horse of the Chinese Communist Party" against the backdrop of Sino-American technological war-competition. ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, must sell the video-sharing platform to the United States, or face being blocked in the country from January 19. However, for TikTok, joined by many content creators, such an exclusion would silence its 170 million users across the Atlantic.
But according to the American administration, TikTok constitutes a "serious threat to national security". The platform can be used by Beijing to spy on American users, but also to "promote its geopolitical interests and harm the United States". If the Court follows this reasoning and confirms the April law, TikTok will have only nine days to find a buyer or pack its bags.
And for many comments, it is this second option that is emerging. Concretely, TikTok would be excluded from American app stores, it could no longer be hosted by American Internet service providers. As a result, US users will no longer be able to download or update TikTok.
Still a lot of uncertainty
The fact remains that Donald Trump could, starting on January 20, come to the rescue of the social network that he defended, after having tried to ban it during his first term.
The US law is supposed to apply from January 19, but Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to suspend its entry into force until he takes office on January 20, giving him time to "negotiate a solution with TikTok".
The problem: The supreme justices have still not responded to Donald Trump. Once in office, he could have a law passed in Congress to overturn the April law - which could take some time. It could also grant the social network an additional 90 days to find a buyer — a deadline provided for by law.
Unless the Court finally ends the debate, ruling in favor of maintaining the law. The supreme justices have scheduled two hours for arguments, but the session is expected to last well beyond that. The Court must then rule and make its decision public in the coming days.
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