ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has stated it has no plans to sell TikTok, leaving the app’s legal appeal – focused on US guarantees for free speech – as its only option for survival.
“The law before this court is unprecedented. Its effect would be staggering,” said Andrew Pincus, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the wildly popular video-sharing app.
“For the first time in history, Congress has expressly targeted a specific US speaker (ie, TikTok USA),” he added.
In their questions, the judges challenged this argument, comparing it to earlier cases in US jurisprudence.
This included a case from the 1980s where closing the Palestine Information Office in Washington DC was deemed legal because it was backed by the PLO, an organization officially designated as a terrorist group.
Source: CNA
