Per Curiam

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES _________________

Nos. 24–656 and 24–657 _________________

TIKTOK INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS 24–656 v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BRIAN FIREBAUGH, ET AL., PETITIONERS 24–657 v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL ON APPLICATIONS FOR INJUNCTION PENDING REVIEW TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT [January 17, 2025]

PER CURIAM. As of January 19, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will make it unlaw- ful for companies in the United States to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update the social media platform TikTok, unless U. S. operation of the platform is severed from Chinese control. Petitioners are two TikTok operating entities and a group of U. S. TikTok users. We consider whether the Act, as applied to petitioners, violates the First Amendment. In doing so, we are conscious that the cases before us in- volve new technologies with transformative capabilities. This challenging new context counsels caution on our part. As Justice Frankfurter advised 80 years ago in considering the application of established legal rules to the “totally new problems” raised by the airplane and radio, we should take 2 TIKTOK INC. v. GARLAND

Per Curiam care not to “embarrass the future.” Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Minnesota, 322 U. S. 292, 300 (1944). That caution is heightened in these cases, given the expedited time allowed for our consideration.1 Our analysis must be understood to be narrowly focused in light of these circumstances. I A TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to cre- ate, publish, view, share, and interact with short videos overlaid with audio and text. Since its launch in 2017, the platform has accumulated over 170 million users in the United States and more than one billion worldwide. Those users are prolific content creators and viewers. In 2023, U. S. TikTok users uploaded more than 5.5 billion videos, which were in turn viewed more than 13 trillion times around the world. Opening the TikTok application brings a user to the “For You” page—a personalized content feed tailored to the user’s interests. TikTok generates the feed using a propri- etary algorithm that recommends videos to a user based on the user’s interactions with the platform. Each interaction a user has on TikTok—watching a video, following an ac- count, leaving a comment—enables the recommendation system to further tailor a personalized content feed. A TikTok user’s content feed is also shaped by content moderation and filtering decisions. TikTok uses automated and human processes to remove content that violates the platform’s community guidelines. See 1 App. 493–497. Tik- Tok also promotes or demotes certain content to advance its business objectives and other goals. See id., at 499–501. TikTok is operated in the United States by TikTok Inc., —————— 1 Applications for an injunction pending review were filed on December 16, 2024; we construed the applications as petitions for a writ of certio- rari and granted them on December 18, 2024; and oral argument was held on January 10, 2025. Cite as: 604 U. S. ____ (2025) 3

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