A new law gives TikTok a January 19 deadline to sell to a non-Chinese company or face a nationwide ban. Law professor Alan Rozenshtein delves into what this means and whether President-Elect Trump could intervene. David Bianculli reflects on the year in TV. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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TikTok is in a race against time, a last ditch effort to save itself from being banned in the US on January 19.
The CEO of ByteDance, the company that owns the popular social platform, met with President Elect Donald Trump on Monday, just hours after asking the Supreme Court to take up the case and blocked the ban temporarily.
This morning, the court agreed to take up the appeal and hear oral arguments on January 10 before deciding whether to put the ban on hold.
Now at issue is who owns TikTok.
Lawmakers say the platform is a national security risk because it gives China unfettered access to our data and our attention.
Last April, Congress passed a law that mandates TikTok either be sold to a non Chinese company or be banned.
TikTok challenged that law, arguing that a ban infringes on America's First Amendment rights to free speech.
Now, each month, about 170 million of us spend time on TikTok.
And for those who aren't on it, yes, it's a place to watch silly pranks and dance challenges.
But it's also a cultural phenomenon.
According to Pew Research, 60% of adults under 30 get their news from TikTok, and millions also use it to generate income by creating content and selling products.
Our guest today, Associate Professor Alan Rosenstein, has closely tracked TikTok's legal battles.
He's been thinking about the ramifications of a ban and recently penned an article for the Atlantic asking what if free speech actually means banning TikTok?
Our interview was recorded yesterday.
Rosenstein is a law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and a senior editor and research director at Lawfare.