Trump Backs TikTok as Supreme Court Hears Case on Jan. 10 Over ByteDance Divestment by Jan. 19

Jan 3, 2025, 09:51 PM

President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his support for TikTok, questioning the rationale behind banning the app given its popularity on his personal and campaign accounts. Trump's personal TikTok account has garnered 1.4 billion total views, averaging 24 million views per post, while his campaign account has received 2.4 billion total views, averaging 6 million views per post. The @teamtrump account on TikTok has received eight times more total views than on Instagram. This comes as the U.S. Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump's request to delay a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests by January 19. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on January 10 regarding the law, which TikTok argues violates free speech rights. The Biden administration opposes Trump's delay request, emphasizing national security concerns related to TikTok's Chinese ownership. If the ban is upheld, it could impact millions of small businesses and individual creators who use the platform, potentially shifting advertising dollars to competitors like Meta and Alphabet.