TikTok says it plans to shut down the site unless the Supreme Court strikes down law forcing it to sell

TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the United States by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok’s sale of its Chinese parent company.

In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that about half the population of the United States uses for entertainment and information.

With a tight deadline, the justices also face a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his previous support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a “policy decision” and avoid decide case. It is unclear whether the court will take the Republican president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.

TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue that the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech.

“Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free speech case that matters to so many people,” wrote lawyers for the users and content creators. Content creators anxiously await a decision that could raise their livelihoods and are looking at other platforms.

The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule on a medium that judges have acknowledged they have little familiarity with or expertise with, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.

The Biden administration, defending the law, which President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by a broad bipartisan majority in Congress, argues that “no one can seriously dispute that (China’s) control of TikTok through ByteDance represents a serious threat to national security.”

Officials say Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over information about TikTok’s American patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information.

But the government “admits it has no evidence that China ever tried to do that,” TikTok told the judges, adding that limits on speech should not be upheld when they stem from fears based on future risks.

In December, a panel of three appeals judges, two appointed by Republicans and one by a Democrat, unanimously upheld the law, rejecting the First Amendment’s speech requirements.

Adding to the tension, the court hears arguments just nine days before the law is to take effect and 10 days before a new administration takes office.

In language typically seen in a campaign ad rather than a legal brief, Trump’s lawyers have urged the court to temporarily block the TikTok ban from taking effect, but refrain from a final decision.

“President Trump alone possesses the consummate expertise, electoral mandate and political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns the administration has expressed — concerns that President Trump himself has acknowledged,” D. John Sauer, Trump’s pick to be his administration’s top Supreme Court attorney, wrote in a legal brief filed with the court.

Trump took no position on the underlying merits of the case, Sauer wrote. Trump’s campaign team used TikTok to connect with younger voters, particularly male voters, and Trump met with TikTok chief Shou Zi Chew at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December. He has 14.7 million followers on TikTok.

The judges have allotted two hours for arguments and the session is likely to extend well beyond that. Three highly experienced Supreme Court lawyers will argue. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar will present the Biden administration’s defense of the law, while Trump’s Solicitor General in his first administration, Noel Francisco, will argue on behalf of TikTok and ByteDance. Stanford law professor Jeffrey Fisher, who represents content creators and users, will make his 50th Supreme Court argument.

If the law goes into effect, Trump’s Justice Department will be charged with enforcing it. Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance have argued that the new administration could seek to mitigate the law’s most serious consequences.

But they also said that a shutdown of just one month would cause TikTok to lose about a third of its daily users in the US and significant ad revenue.

As it weighs the case, the court must decide what level of scrutiny it applies to the law. Under the most searching review, strict scrutiny, laws almost always fail. But two appeals court judges who upheld the law said it would be the rare exception that could withstand strict scrutiny.

TikTok, the app’s users and many briefs supporting them are urging the court to apply strict scrutiny to strike down the law.

But the Democratic administration and some of its supporters cite restrictions on foreign ownership of radio stations and other sectors of the economy to justify efforts to counter Chinese influence in the TikTok ban.

A decision could come within days.