Listen to TikTok’s final pleas against possible ban in Supreme Court

Watch as the US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a bid by TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to block a law intended to force the sale of the app by 19 January or face a ban on national security grounds.

TikTok's parent company is based in China, and the US government says that means it is a potential national security threat. Chinese authorities could force it to hand over sensitive data on the huge number of Americans who use it or could influence the spread of information on the platform, they say.

An appeals court has upheld the law, which bans TikTok unless it's sold.

The law is set to take effect one day before a new term begins for President-elect Donald Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on the platform. The Republican says he wants to “save TikTok."

His message represents a dramatic change from his past stance on the app.

In July 2020, he told reporters, “We’re banning them from the United States,” and later sought to do so via executive order, though TikTok later overturned the ban in court.