Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldUS Supreme Court justices appeared sceptical about TikTok\u2019s efforts to throw out a federal \u201cdivest-or-ban\u201d law on Friday, as the social media platform warned it could \u201cgo dark\u201d in one of its biggest markets in nine days\u2019 time.The oral arguments on Friday centred on whether to allow a law to take effect that would compel TikTok\u2019s Chinese parent ByteDance to divest the platform by January 19 \u2014 the day before Donald Trump is inaugurated as president \u2014 or face a nationwide ban.The legislation, passed with strong bipartisan support last year, was spurred by concerns that the video platform, which has exploded in popularity among teens and now counts 170mn US users, could be wielded by Beijing for espionage purposes or to spread propaganda.TikTok has denied the accusations and claimed the law violated First Amendment protections for free speech. Meanwhile, Trump has promised to \u201csave the app\u201d, and implored the top court to delay the legislative deadline to allow for \u201cthe opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case\u201d when he returns to the White House later this month.Either way, the court\u2019s decision will have wide-ranging implications for free speech in the US as well as global relations with China.During oral arguments on Friday, justices across the ideological spectrum repeatedly challenged TikTok\u2019s arguments that the law was an assault on free speech, focusing instead on concerns the platform is used for \u201ccovert manipulation\u201d and its data is vulnerable for harvesting by Beijing.A lawyer for TikTok, Noel Francisco of Jones Day, said the law singled out the company \u201cfor uniquely harsh treatment, and it does so because the government fears that China could, in the future, indirectly, pressure TikTok\u201d. Chief Justice John Roberts, a member of the court\u2019s conservative wing, replied: \u201cSo are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?\u201d Justice Elena Kagan, part of the court\u2019s liberal wing, conceded the company \u201cis going to suffer some pretty severe [but] incidental effects\u201d. If TikTok ultimately loses access to ByteDance\u2019s algorithm as a result of a divestiture, the law still \u201cleaves TikTok with the ability to do what every other actor in the United States can do, which is go find the best available algorithm\u201d, she said.Elizabeth Prelogar, the US solicitor-general, stressed the government\u2019s national security argument. Beijing\u2019s efforts to undermine the US by amassing \u201csensitive data\u201d about Americans and its ability to compel companies to turn over such material \u201cmean that the Chinese government could weaponise TikTok at any time to harm the United States\u201d, she said.She said ByteDance had already acquiesced to Beijing\u2019s demands, alleging there was evidence it had \u201ctaken action to misappropriate data\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009to track dissidents in Hong Kong [and] Uyghurs in China\u201d. ByteDance also \u201cmisappropriated US data\u201d when it admitted to having inappropriately obtained the data of two US journalists, including a Financial Times reporter, she added. TikTok has argued a spin-off would be technically \u201cunfeasible\u201d before the deadline. Beijing, which would have a say, according to China\u2019s export laws, has also said it opposes a sale and has branded the law a \u201cblatant act of commercial robbery\u201d. Francisco, TikTok\u2019s lawyer, reiterated the point on Friday, saying a divestiture would be \u201cexceedingly difficult under any timeframe\u201d.Asked what would happen on January 19 if the company loses this case, Francisco replied: \u201cAs I understand it, we go dark.\u201d The court is expected to deliver a ruling ahead of the January 19 deadline, potentially sealing the fate of a leading source of entertainment and news for young people, which has provided a livelihood to thousands of influencers, as well as attracting top advertising dollars.Even if the court rules against TikTok, Trump could intervene once in power, though it is unclear how. The president-elect\u2019s sudden rescue mission of the video app has come in part after he used the platform during last year\u2019s election campaign to engage with young voters.It also comes as Trump has said he wishes to preserve \u201ccompetition\u201d in a market dominated by Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Meta, after criticising the US social network as an \u201cenemy of the people\u201d for alleged censorship of conservative content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldUS Supreme Court justices appeared sceptical about TikTok\u2019s efforts to throw out a federal \u201cdivest-or-ban\u201d law on Friday, as the social media platform warned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-160846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}