Listener supported WNYC Studios.

It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. I'm Bridget Bergen in for Brian today.

Last April, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring Bight Dance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok,

to sell its U.S. assets to an American company by January 19, 2025, or faced a nationwide ban due to national security issues.

TicTac took the ban to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments made Friday, January 10th, lawyers for Ticktok,

its users and parent company Bight Dance argued that the ban violated the First Amendment.

Let's take a listen to lawyer Noel Francisco. The government has no valid interest in preventing foreign propaganda.

And its fallback that it seeks merely to prevent covertness makes no sense, since that could

be addressed with a risk disclosure.

The government's real target, rather, is the speech itself.

It's fear that Americans, even if fully informed, could be persuaded by Chinese misinformation.

That, however, is a decision that the First Amendment leaves to the people. This morning, however, the Supreme Court upheld the ban.

In the decision, the Justice is right, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for

expression, means of engagement, and source of community.

But Congress has determined that the divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.

The decision comes as TikTok is actually picking up new bipartisan support from lawmakers.

Yesterday, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer urged President Biden to extend

the deadline by 90 days. President-elect Donald Trump, for his part, has signaled he'd sign an

executive order to overturn the ban. TikTok is ubiquitous. One third of U.S. adults use TikTok,

as do six in 10 teens, according to a recent poll from Q. That's about

170 million American users. So what does this all mean for them? Joining us now to explain

are Sylvia Varnum O'Regan, reporter covering social media companies for the tech news site,

...