[11][12] The Supreme Court granted certiorari for TikTok's appeal on an expedited schedule, and heard oral arguments on January 10, 2025, nine days before the law's divestment deadline.

[14] It potentially bans apps made by any "covered company controlled by a foreign adversary and determined by the President to present a significant threat to the national security of the United States" unless exempted through qualified divestment.

If ByteDance fails to do so, TikTok will face a ban from U.S. app stores and internet hosting services, limiting new downloads and access to its content.

The deadline for the sale is January 19, 2025, but Biden can extend it by another 90 days if progress is made, potentially giving TikTok up to a year before a ban is enforced.

[15] On May 7, 2024, TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, challenging the legislation primarily on First Amendment grounds, alleging that the forced divestiture or ban of the platform would violate the free speech rights of the company and its users.

[26] In August and September 2024, DOJ filed classified documents with the court to outline additional security concerns regarding ByteDance's ownership of TikTok.

"[28] "The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States," Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg wrote in the court's majority opinion.

[58] The Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision on January 17, 2025, holding that even if this regulation of business ownership implicated First Amendment rights by burdening the free speech of TikTok users, it survives review under intermediate scrutiny.

[59] The ruling stated "Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary" and that the law "does not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights".

Sotomayor believed the Court should have squarely held that PAFACA actually implicates First Amendment rights, rather than evading that threshold question by merely assuming it does and then upholding the law's constitutionality anyway.

[65] Immediately after the Supreme Court ruling, TikTok stated they will be forced to shut down on January 19 without any commitment from the Biden administration that they would not enforce PAFACA.

A spokesperson for Joe Biden stated that because Donald Trump would be inaugurated on January 20, any decisions related to PAFACA enforcement would be left to the incoming administration.

[70] Trump signed the executive order as promised on January 20 following his inauguration, delaying the enforcement of PAFACA for at least 75 days for his administration to have "an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward".