Supreme Court hears TikTok case, leans toward upholding ban

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Friday in a case over a federal law that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent company sells the popular app.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that the justices appeared to favor national security arguments for upholding the law, passed last year, rather than free speech arguments against it.

“Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company’s connections to China overrides concerns about restricting the speech, either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States,” the AP reported.

“While justices expressed some concerns about the law raising free speech issues, especially as it relates to the platform’s content moderation policies,” wrote NBC News, “they also appeared willing to defer at least to some of the government’s national security justifications related to concerns about collection of data of American users.”

A preliminary decision, which could include blocking the law for now, could come within days, NBC added.

This story is developing.