SCOTUS skeptical toward TikTok arguments against looming ban

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By Caitlin Tremblay

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U.S. Supreme Court justices indicated skepticism on Friday toward a challenge by TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance to a law that would force a sale or ban the app in the U.S. by Jan. 19. The case pits free speech rights against American national security concerns. Read more about the arguments.

During about 2-1/2 hours of arguments, some of the justices seemed to acknowledge the national security concerns of Congress - that the app would enable China's government to spy on Americans and carry out covert influence operations - given that TikTok is owned by what lawmakers deemed a foreign adversary.

But some of the justices also voiced concerns about the law's implications toward free speech. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito floated the possibility of the court issuing what is called an administrative stay that would put the law on hold temporarily while the justices decide how to proceed. 

Donald Trump …

The president-elect will not go to jail or face any other punishment for his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, a judge ruled on Friday. Late Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Trump's last minute bid to prevent his sentencing. Trump will be the first president to take office with a felony criminal conviction. Also this week, a U.S. appeals court declined to block the DOJ from releasing a special counsel's investigative report on Trump's attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Here is a look at the remaining cases against the president-elect and where they stand ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Legal industry …

Damian Williams, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, will return to Paul Weiss … Meta named Ethan Davis, a former senior DOJ official from Trump's first presidential administration to manage its worldwide litigation strategy … Law firms are wrangling over fees from the $2.7 billion Blue Cross Blue Shield settlement … New York will give a new bar exam in July 2028 … Skadden opened up shop in Abu Dhabi … And AGs  from 21 Republican-controlled states have warned the ABA that its law school diversity rule is unlawful.

Circuit courts … 

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer returned to the 1st Circuit to hear some cases … The 9th Circuit closed its courthouse in Pasadena, California, for the next week and shifted to hearing previously-scheduled arguments remotely in light of the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County … On Tuesday the 9th Circuit upheld an Oregon law banning most secret recordings of oral conversations, rejecting a First Amendment challenge by Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for using covert recordings against opponents.

The LA wildfires are still burning but calmer winds are helping Los Angeles firefighters extinguish the fires as the death toll hits 10 … "The worst I've seen:" Reuters visuals journalists talk about the LA wildfires … 2024 was the hottest year on record, scientists say … Gaza war death toll could be 40% higher, a study says … The U.S. hit Russian oil with toughest sanctions yet in a bid to give Ukraine and Trump leverage … The U.S. labor market exits 2024 with strong job gains … And our oddest photos of the week.

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

@ctrembz

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