As the date of January 19 draws nearer, the TikTok ban is just around the corner.
A few months ago, President Biden signed the bill that would outlaw the app. Then, in a decision that might ban the well-known social media app from US app stores, a federal appeals court chose to proceed with the case.
The Supreme Court will now hear arguments for and against the ban on January 10 in a turn of events that seems as abrupt as the fast-paced doomscrolling you see on a TikTok feed.
The federal government’s suggestion that we all start looking for alternative ways to doomscroll is what particularly drew my eye in the appeals court’s decision. “You will have to find other ways to communicate,” Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg stated in court filings.
It may be necessary for us all to take a moment to process that, particularly in light of the recent legal development that means the Supreme Court will not only decide the app’s destiny but also consider its impact on free expression and whether foreign firms like ByteDance can influence U.S. users.
