More from TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown and return in the US
“Under one scenario that’s been discussed by the Chinese government, Musk’s X — the former Twitter — would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together, the people said,” Bloomberg reports.
TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes tells The Verge that “we can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
Kevin O’Leary recently joined Frank McCourt’s bid to buy TikTok. Now, with TikTok facing a ban in one week, the Shark Tank host is playing golf with the President-elect. Hmm.
“While we do not have specific on when the court will make its ruling, you can be assured that we will be transparent on the next steps as soon as we have a decision,” writes TikTok’s Kim Farrell, according to a screenshot of a message shared by Andru Edwards.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case against the TikTok divest-or-ban bill on Friday, which will determine the future of the app in the US.
Amanda Mull at Bloomberg has a nice summary of how consumer culture might change if TikTok exits the US later this month. It’s not just influencers who’d feel the effects — brands pushing products, media covering trends, and businesses relying on the app’s roulette of virality are surely worried.
But would it be the worst thing if we all just slowed down a bit?
So reports CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. It seems inevitable that Trump will try to broker a sale to a US company and take credit for “saving” TikTok, but the open questions are whether China allows that to happen, and who might be able to afford it.
Trump said he’s “gonna have to start thinking about TikTok” this weekend while speaking at an event in Phoenix, Arizona. He added, “Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while.”
The US is set to ban the platform on January 19th, though there’s a chance the Supreme Court could reverse that.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Knight First Amendment Institute are asking the court to pause the law that could ban TikTok on January 19th while considering the case. They “urge the Court to see the Act for what it is: a sweeping ban on free expression that triggers and fails the most exacting scrutiny under the First Amendment.”
[www.supremecourt.gov]
With roughly one month until the “ban” phase of the US TikTok “divest or ban” law, TikTok’s making a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court has an established record of upholding Americans’ right to free speech. Today, TikTok is asking the Court to do what it has traditionally done in free speech cases: apply the most rigorous scrutiny to speech bans and conclude that it violates the First Amendment.
[Newsroom | TikTok]
The same three judges who ruled last week that a TikTok divest-or-ban law is Constitutional ruled against the company again today and declined to temporarily pause it from taking effect on January 19th.
In response, TikTok said again that it’s taking the case to the Supreme Court.
Leaders of the House panel that led the divest-or-ban bill against TikTok warned the CEOs to be ready to comply once the bill takes effect — assuming it’s not stopped before then. The warning comes after a federal court ruled the bill is constitutional. Under the law, app marketplaces could get in trouble for letting users download the app.
[Select Committee on the CCP]
A court rejected arguments against forcing a sale of the massive Chinese-owned social network.
TikTok is running out of time and legal recourse to avoid a US ban unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells it. Here’s the tl;dr on why a three-judge panel unanimously ruled to uphold the law that could expel TikTok, and what comes next.
