TikTok, Biden Administration Spar at Supreme Court Over US Ban

TikTok and the Biden administration made dueling arguments to the US Supreme Court in their showdown over a law that would ban the popular social media app next month unless it’s sold by its Chinese parent company.

Filing its main brief in the high-stakes case, the Justice Department argued that continuing Chinese control of TikTok threatens national security by letting a foreign adversary spread propaganda and collect data on Americans. TikTok and parent ByteDance Ltd. countered that a ban would unconstitutionally stifle the speech of 170 million American users.

Unless blocked by the high court, the law will take effect Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the law on an unusually expedited timeline, with arguments scheduled for a special session on Jan. 10.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

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