Judges at the Supreme Court of the United States have expressed doubts about the problems that came with the video sharing platform TikTok, because they want to violate the law that would force the sale of the program or ban it by January 19.
Friday's lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles that have pitted the US government against ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, in a battle over free speech and national security concerns.
The law in question was signed in April, announcing that ByteDance would face a deadline to sell its US shares or be banned.
The bill had strong bipartisan support, with lawmakers fearing that China's ByteDance could collect user data and hand it over to the Chinese government. US President Joe Biden in the end he signed let it be a law.
But users of ByteDance and TikTok protested the laws, saying that banning the app would limit their freedom of expression.
In Friday's arguments, the Supreme Court appeared to be concerned about the government's claims that the program helps the Chinese government spy on Americans and conduct covert operations.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito has also floated the possibility of issuing a so-called executive order that would put the law on hold while the court decides how to proceed.
The Supreme Court is deliberating on the issue at the time of the trade dispute between the US and China, two of the largest economies in the world.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to begin his second term shortly after the inauguration day, did promised to “save” the tower during his presidential campaign.
This marks a change from his first term in office, when he unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok.
In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to halt the implementation of the law to give his administration “an opportunity to implement political solutions to the political crisis”.
Noel Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance, emphasized in court that the law could close one of the most popular platforms in the US.
“This practice must not stand,” Francisco said. He dismissed the fear “that Americans, even if fully informed, could be swayed by Chinese propaganda” as “a judgment that the First Amendment leaves to the public”.
Francisco asked the judges to, at least, suspend the law for a while, “which will allow you to think seriously about this important issue and, for the reasons that the president-elect has explained, he can challenge the case”.
'Weapon TikTok' to destroy the US
TikTok has about 170 million American users, about half of the US population.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, an opponent of the Biden administration, said that China's control of TikTok poses a serious threat to US national security.
The amount of information the app could collect on users and their contacts could give China a powerful tool for harassment, recruitment and espionage, he said.
China “can use TikTok at any time to attack the United States”.
Prelogar added that the First Amendment does not prevent Congress from taking action to protect Americans and their data.
Several jurors appeared to be paying attention to Friday's discussion. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts urged TikTok's lawyers that the company is owned by China.
“Should we ignore the fact that the last parent should do intelligence work for the Chinese government?” Roberts asked.
“You seem to be ignoring the biggest problem here for Congress – which was to disrupt China's content and find and harvest that content.”
“Congress doesn't care what's on TikTok,” Roberts added, appearing to give up on free-flowing arguments.
Left-leaning Justice Elena Kagan also said April's TikTok order “targets this foreign organization, which has no First Amendment rights”.
TikTok, ByteDance and other software users were he appealed a lower court decision that upheld the law and rejected their argument that it violates the United States Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech.