On Wednesday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, urging the rejection of TikTok’s request to delay a law that could ban the app in January.
What Happened: McConnell dismissed TikTok’s First Amendment claims in his filing. “The topsy-turvy idea that TikTok has an expressive right to facilitate the CCP censorship regime is absurd,” his counsel Michael A. Fragoso wrote.
“TikTok clearly desires this Court to enjoin the divesture date in the vain hopes that the divesture order will be punted into the next presidential administration where, perhaps, TikTok will find relief from divesture from a less hostile Department of Justice,” the filing read.
On the same day, the Supreme Court said it will hear arguments on whether the law that bans TikTok nationwide infringes on the First Amendment, with oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10.
This timeline allows the court to potentially rule before the ban’s effective date of Jan. 19.
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Why It Matters: McConnell was instrumental in passing a foreign aid package in April that included the law. It mandated ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest from the app or face a ban in the U.S.
Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Trump, who previously attempted to ban TikTok during his first presidency, has also expressed support for the social media platform, promising to “save” it.
A potential TikTok ban could lead users to spend more time on platforms like YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google, Reddit Inc. RDDT, and Snap Inc.'s SNAP Snapchat.
The platform also competes with Meta Platforms, Inc.'s META Facebook and Instagram. In fact, following a court ruling against TikTok, stocks for Meta, Reddit, and Snap reached record highs.
In September, acquisition speculation ignited after Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN decided to deepen its ties with TikTok. In May 2024, venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok.
In July, Needham analyst Laura Martin assessed TikTok as being more valuable than Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, citing metrics such as revenue, active user base, and engagement levels.
Photo by Consolidated News Photos on Shutterstock
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