TikTok is the social media sensation that all of Silicon Valley — and a lot of Washington, DC — has their eyes on. The app, created by ByteDance, became famous for rocketing musicians and dancers to stardom. But as its popularity and influence have grown, so has scrutiny of its privacy policies, security, and influence, with legislators voicing concern about its ownership by a Chinese firm. Meanwhile, social media competitors are doing everything they can to knock off TikTok’s features and usurp its short-form video dominance.
TikTok attorney Noel Francisco is making opening arguments on the livestream — stressing the First Amendment’s role in the case and the potential speech burdens for TikTok and its users. He’s arguing that TikTok’s speech is, in particular, its recommendation algorithm, which is the least likely piece to be approved for a sale by the Chinese government.
“If you want people to care, you’ve got to show that you care,” says South Carolina-based Baus. “It’s all about making noise.” Baus has been updating her nearly 800,000 TikTok followers along the way. “This isn’t just something small. This isn’t just something I’m brushing to the side. I’m fighting for them as well.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from TikTok, a group of TikTok users, and the US government before deciding whether to block a law that will otherwise take effect on January 19th. You can listen on C-Span or the Supreme Court’s site, starting at 10AM ET.
“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?
The country’s highest court found that TikTok failed to take “necessary and adequate measures” to stop the spread of viral challenges, which authorities blamed for the death of three adolescents who’d ingested toxic chemicals, reports Voice of America.
The court reportedly gave ByteDance eight days to pay the fine and ordered it to establish a Venezuelan office.
[Voice of America (VOA News)]
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.
The Supreme Court will consider TikTok’s case against a divest-or-ban law early next year, and a wave of filings has hit the docket this afternoon — from the parties involved as well as numerous institutions and public figures, including President-elect Donald Trump. If you want a firsthand look, the full list is linked below.
[www.supremecourt.gov]
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]
The Canadian government ordered the shutdown of TikTok’s Canadian operations last month, though the shutdown wouldn’t bar Canadians from using the app.
“We believe it’s in the best interest of Canadians to find a meaningful solution and ensure that a local team remains in place, alongside the TikTok platform,” TikTok says.
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.
The company announced today it’s opening up its AI ads tool to all advertisers — so prepare to see more AI content on your feed.
TikTok’s Symphony Creative Studio lets advertisers remix content and generate new videos promoting products in just a few minutes. Some of those ads even include AI avatars resembling humans.
Well, four people close to Trump say he’s going to try and stop it from happening, reports the Washington Post. It’s unclear what, exactly, that means. TikTok faces a ban unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells it by January 19th — the day before Trump’s inauguration.
Maybe Trump, who was courted by tech leaders in the months leading up to the election, will convince one of his new friends to buy it.
[The Washington Post]
Donald Trump’s second term means significant changes for AI, crypto, and EV policy.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The onus won’t be on parents or young people. There’ll be no penalties for users.”
Legislation will be introduced this month and would come into force 12 months after ratification.
Industry minister François-Philippe Champagne says the government is acting “to address the specific national security risks related to ByteDance Ltd.’s operations in Canada.”
However, Canada is not attempting to ban or control the TikTok app:
The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice.
TikTok has responded, saying it would challenge the order in court.
The Information reports that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance grew its overall revenue to $73 billion in the first half of 2024 — just shy of Meta’s $75.5 billion. The share of ByteDance’s revenue that comes from TikTok grew to 23 percent, meaning its operations outside of China are increasingly important for the company’s bottom line.
The company is adding a STEM feed for all US, Great Britain, and Ireland-based users that surfaces technology and science content. The feed itself isn’t new, but now it will be enabled by default.
An educational feed could be a way for TikTok to push back against a potential ban in the US and lawsuits that say the app is dangerous to kids.
The future of marketing — and, in a way, everything else — is getting a shakeup.
