WASHINGTON –
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 widely used short-video app by Jan. 19 in the United States in a case that pits free speech rights against American national security concerns.
TikTok and ByteDance, as well as some users who post content on the app, have challenged a law passed by Congress with strong bipartisan support last year and signed by outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, whose administration is defending it.
During 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 …