TikTok has 170M users. The Supreme Court is likely to go against them.

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WASHINGTON — Some of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok Selling cookies, promoting books by black authors, commentating on sports, advocating for sexual assault survivors and more say the stakes couldn’t be higher when The Supreme Court On Friday Discusses fate The most popular short form video app.

The court has rarely, if ever, dealt with a free speech case that is important to many, including lawyers for TikTok content creators. told Justice in a filing.

TikTok users said they will lose the most powerful mechanism available to make their voices heard unless the high court blocks a federal law requiring TikTok to end its ties with the Chinese government or Jan. 19. needs to be banned in the US.

Still, court observers doubt the justices will overturn it. Decision of the lower court Compliance with the law.

The unanimous decision was made by judges appointed to the bench by both Republican and Democratic presidents. And their agreement on ideological lines echoes the law’s broad bipartisan support in Congress.

In addition, national security justifications for the law are likely to be persuasive to judges, said Gautham Hans, a professor at Cornell Law School and associate director of the school’s First Amendment Clinic.

“They are very reluctant to second-guess the decisions of the political branches on this important topic,” said Hans, who signed a brief supporting TikTok but is not optimistic that free speech concerns will go away. will

The government has warned that unless TikTok is separated from ByteDance, its China-based parent company, China could collect data on Americans or manipulate content on TikTok to shape American opinion. Can manipulate.

President-elect Donald Trump By slandering the united support of the executive and legislative branches of the law. Asked the court to suspend him until he has a chance to find another solution after he assumes office on January 20.

But legal experts as well as the Justice Department — which urged the Supreme Court to ignore Trump’s request — said the president-elect had no persuasive legal argument to block the law.

The court has already delayed ruling – until after in-person arguments – on TikTok’s request to stay the law’s January 19 deadline. That’s a sign that the majority of judges don’t think TikTok will be able to successfully argue that the law is unconstitutional. Saurabh Vaishnavisma professor at the Cardozo School of Law.

“I think there’s an uphill battle coming up in the Tiktok argument,” he said.

More:Trump asked the Supreme Court to stay the TikTok ban so he could ‘negotiate a resolution’

The court, which is hearing the case at an accelerated pace, could issue a decision soon after Friday’s arguments.

In written filings reviewing the case, the two sides disagree on whether free speech is at risk, if there are other ways to address national security concerns and whether those concerns are legitimate.

Here’s a look at their differences.

Does banning TikTok violate the First Amendment?

The Justice Department argues that the law does not violate free speech because it targets TikTok’s control by a foreign adversary, not speech protected by the First Amendment.

Congress’s goal of protecting Americans’ data from China’s misuse has nothing to do with expression. wrote in the filing. And the goal of preventing China from using TikTok to shape American opinion or spread misinformation does not violate the Constitution because “a foreign sovereign’s First Amendment right to covertly manipulate an American platform No.”

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Lawyers for TikTok’s content providers say they have a First Amendment right to speak to other Americans with the help of a foreign publisher. He said his use of Tik-Tik is no different from an actor making a film with a foreign director or an author publishing a book with a British publisher.

Banning TikTok until it gets a new owner “clearly imposes a burden on the free flow of ideas,” he said. The lawyers wrote. Even under a new owner, he said, TikTok would lose its distinctive look and feel.

Are there better ways to address national security concerns?

Even if judges agree that a law violates free speech rights, they may uphold it if they find it narrowly tailored to achieve an important goal. has gone

TikTok argues that the “time-tested, least restrictive” way to address concerns about content manipulation is to require disclosure warnings to users. The government may prohibit TikTok from sharing sensitive user data with a foreign adversary due to data concerns. Lawyers for TikTok users wrote that it could be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission using hefty fines.

The Justice Department says they may not detect a data breach until it’s too late.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Preluger “The Chinese government has a documented history of collecting data through hacking operations that violate US law,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Preluger said. Told the court. “The First Amendment does not require the government to rely on a prospective agreement with a party it does not trust.”

It also said that general disclosure to TikTok users about the risks of content manipulation by China would be “plainly ineffective”.

Is there a significant threat to national security?

TikTok says the government has yet to prove that there is a significant national security threat that needs to be addressed.

TikTok’s lawyers say the Justice Department is expanding China’s interest in TikTok’s data and undermining the company’s ability to protect itself from foreign influence. Told the court.

In fact, he said, the government has admitted it has no evidence of wrongdoing and has made “no attempt to explain why the dog never barked.”