Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf has chosen her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear TikTok’s appeal against a no-sale law that will determine the video app’s fate in the United States.
The app, owned by ByteDance, will lose access to the company’s 170 million U.S. employees unless it is separated from its Chinese parent under a law scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 19, the day before Donald Trump’s inauguration. Expected to be banned for users.
The Supreme Court has accepted a challenge to the law, which was proposed by U.S. officials due to national security concerns about the company’s Chinese roots, and announced that it will hear oral arguments on January 10. Both parties are expected to submit their opening briefs by December 27th.
TikTok asks the Supreme Court to hear the case after a U.S. appeals court rejected a challenge to the law and a subsequent request to stay the action pending further court proceedings did.
TikTok’s fate in the United States now rests in the hands of the country’s Supreme Court, and the app is also counting on President Trump. President Trump says he intends to “save” the platform to maintain “competition” with Mark Zuckerberg’s meta. It has been criticized for censoring right-wing voices.
In a sign of intensifying lobbying activity, TikTok Chief Executive Officer Xiu Zhichu met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, two people familiar with the matter said. The president-elect has also publicly said he has “a little fondness” for the app, citing its strong performance with young voters in the November election.
But President Trump is unsure what mechanisms he will use to circumvent a ban on TikTok, and what changes to the app’s governance and ownership will need to be made to meet remaining concerns. has not been made clear.
The Justice Department claimed that the Chinese government, through its Chinese parent company, could use the app for propaganda and espionage purposes.
TikTok said in a statement Wednesday: “We are confident that the court has ruled that banning TikTok is unconstitutional and that the more than 170 million Americans who use our platform will not be able to continue exercising their free speech rights. I believe we can do it.”
TikTok has called the bill, passed by Congress with bipartisan support, illegal and argued that it is technically “unfeasible” to spin off within the law’s deadline. The Chinese government has also said it opposes the sale.
Nevertheless, some potential buyers and partners are circling. American media and sports businessman Frank McCourt has set up a consortium of investors to bid for TikTok through Project Liberty, a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to advocate for a fairer internet. The company’s investor group had privately pledged more than $20 billion in capital.
