Supreme Court will likely uphold law that could prohibit TikTok in US: report

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday listened to oral arguments about a law that could ban TikTok in the United States and appear likely to uphold it, according to reports.

"The law doesn't say TikTok has to shut down," Justice Amy Coney Barrett said during the arguments, according to Axios. "It says ByteDance has to divest."

The federal law states that unless TikTok's Chinese-based parent company Bytedance divests its shares of the app, it will be shut down in the U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump requested a postponement of the possible ban, which is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 19, a day before he is set to be inaugurated as president.  

"The law is only targeted at this foreign corporation that doesn't have First Amendment rights," Justice Elena Kagan said during the arguments. "Whatever effect it has, it has."

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the past that the social media app is a threat to America's national security.