Duelling arguments take shape in the TikTok-ban case

[{"selector":"#anim-41363996-1223-47f3-b96b-d2842c483238 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(41.83593738616522%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-4bc5071c-bbea-406a-b819-964801e51dd4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ac2a30c1-23f0-4916-8aac-385ad4d83d95","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 62.27054%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] America’s Supreme Court is due to weigh the platform’s fate on January 10th

[{"selector":"#anim-51f84aaa-e5ab-488b-8c56-0872edce1344","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ae801d7b-07a1-4a2b-a1cb-ed193ec0bf5b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 59.10395%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] DAYS AHEAD of the showdown in TikTok v Garland— and a fortnight before TikTok could vanish from Americans’ smartphones

[{"selector":"#anim-184cfd8f-80f5-4132-a2d2-f9dbab6a3c3a [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(54.51171866040275%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d04cc8a6-25a1-4324-b4a5-ed36e79d62f6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-67800eb2-c069-462f-a143-d226045b3c04","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 55.15299%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] the legal debate over the wildly popular social-media site is coming into focus.

[{"selector":"#anim-173b9726-406c-4836-9024-5e8f20c639db [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(34.179687404002955%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b47dabf7-7bd9-4ae0-85e0-acc803a83209","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ece01ddd-c557-4cf1-8b72-9d8fc34760d7","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 57.22641%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] On one side of this Supreme Court dispute are the Biden administration and lawmakers who warn that TikTok’s links to the Chinese government threaten national security.

[{"selector":"#anim-718f7587-0ae6-4671-9e73-5a0123f43080 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(57.46720058970196%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9c7c1274-dfbc-47ce-8651-66eb5b22c7a8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-816ab2ae-88b7-491f-a78b-d7cc55548537","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 57.22641%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] On the other are ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company), free-speech advocates, some of the estimated 170m Americans who regularly scroll the app and Donald Trump, the president-elect.

[{"selector":"#anim-9b0fb10d-0b6e-4b98-90ae-fdd02617d714 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(31.249999886225726%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a34accce-9b06-4aec-90b4-b754d4596e82","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-67370d3e-5fd6-4306-8231-2c56698f6e22","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 67.19578%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] A heavy-handed new law forced TikTok to announce that it would shut down operations “within days.”

[{"selector":"#anim-383f79a4-34e4-4b2d-bbd1-983a7989ae55 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(51.66774204965451%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e8a2deed-0522-4f95-bca2-94ec9b8998e6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e00c8cee-cfbe-428a-9f47-a756fb1e20a8","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 57.22641%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] But this was not an American official describing the shutdown of TikTok that could soon go into effect in the U.S., thanks to a law passed by Congress last April.

[{"selector":"#anim-4879b4d5-f1b6-431e-9d49-b94e0bc75b39 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(41.83593738616522%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5bbef962-a500-4140-83e6-f7ff9de26f76","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f53ece53-ade2-43f9-9736-beae4b69298c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 65.55950%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] It was Hong Kong chief executive and Communist Party loyalist Carrie Lam, in 2020, after China approved anti-dissent legislation that forced TikTok to shut down in Hong Kong.

[{"selector":"#anim-77ec75c2-ef6b-492d-949a-28c37c460245 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(59.08936128407076%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2bb86c20-43c9-412a-b229-d9260d0c5809","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-7852cae2-314c-484e-8d52-587c60b42825","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 55.15299%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] the legal debate over the wildly popular social-media site is coming into focus.