TikTok’s Future in America Hangs by a ThreadTikTok’s Future in America Hangs by a ThreadTikTok’s Future in America Hangs by a Thread

As TikTok, the video app, skyrockets in popularity, a legal battle rages to see if a Congressional ban to shut it down takes effect on Jan.19. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard 2.5 hours of oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by ByteDance, the parent company who owns TikTok, along with some creators, against legislation passed last April by Congress. The Congressional action said that TikTok either had to cease operations in the United States by Sunday, Jan. 19 or sell ByteDance to an American owner. The plaintiffs are trying to have the Court find the Congressional ban unconstitutional based upon the First Amendment. Congress passed the ban based upon security concerns saying that ByteDance was controlled by the Chinese government and that TikTok has been gathering data on Americans and that process breaches national security. The government has argued that this is not a First Amendment issue but an issue of national security that Congress has the right to protect. As of Jan. 16, the Supreme Court has not yet issued its ruling. Meanwhile, President elect Donald Trump is trying to devise ways to halt the ban for 60 to 90 days to see if he can broker a deal between China and Congress. On this episode of Next Witness…Please, retired judges Thomas Hodson and Gayle Williams-Byers explain the legal questions raised in the litigation and look at what other options might be available to save TikTok. They also look ahead at what will happen is TikTok is shut down.