US top court to hear TikTok ban challenge

Civil rights groups voice strong concerns over legislation forcing sale of platform

The US Supreme Court announced on Wednesday it would consider TikTok's challenge to legislation that could force the popular social media platform to be sold to a US company by Jan 19 or face a nationwide ban.

The announcement came two days after TikTok filed a petition with the nation's highest court. At the center of the challenge is the legislation called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

Passed by Congress and signed into law by US President Joe Biden in April, the act requires that TikTok's Chinese parent company, Byte-Dance, divest its ownership within 270 days or face a ban in the US market, where the platform has 170 million users.