Earlier this week, TikTok and its parent company, China-based ByteDance, asked the US Supreme Court to stop a January 19 deadline set by US lawmakers in April forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was even spotted at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, making his case to President-elect Donald Trump later that day.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said he would listen case, setting oral arguments for January 10.
Related: 'This is nuts': TikTok just came close to being banned in the US – Here's why
TikTok had requested that the court will consider the case until January 6 to give the company time to “coordinate with their service providers to carry out the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform in the United States only,” if the ban passes.
TikTok is arguing that a ban “violates the First Amendment.”
Earlier this week, when asked about the near term, Trump said: “We're going to take a look at TikTok.”
“You know, I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok,” Trump added.
How will a TikTok ban affect small businesses?
The app is used by about 170 million Americans, according to ByteDance.
In one court filing earlier in December, TikTok said that creators and small businesses in the US could lose $1.3 billion in revenue and profits in just one month if the ban passes. (TikTok broke it about $1 billion in business marketing and $300 million in revenue for people who create videos with the app.)
TikTok has also been embraced in pop culture, with CEO Chew serving as one honorary chairman of the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
However, some people in the incoming Trump administration, including Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, have been the most vocal against the ban. supporters.
“TikTok expanded the power and influence of the Chinese Communist Party in our nation, right under our noses,” Rubio said in a press release. on his website in April.
In one PRESENTATION On Wednesday, Michael Fragoso, a lawyer for Republican Caucus Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, wrote: “This is a standard court game at the end of an administration, with a petitioner hoping the next administration will secure a stay of execution.”