Episode Details

The US Supreme Court has thrown a significant roadblock in the path of a new law that would ban the wildly popular TikTok app throughout the United States. On Wednesday, the Court announced it would hold a special hearing on Jan 10 to determine whether that law is constitutional.

美国联邦最高法院为TikTok禁用法案的实施设置重大阻碍，该禁令将使网络流行应用TikTok面临全美禁用。12月18日，最高法院宣布将于1月10日举行特别听证会，以确定该法案是否符合宪法。

The decision is an important temporary victory for TikTok, whose leaders are not giving up in their efforts to prevent the app from being banned — or sold — in the United States. As of now, that ban would go into effect on Jan 19. Should that happen, app stores operating in the US would be prevented from carrying TikTok, meaning no one in the country would be able to download it, and those who already have TikTok on their phones would not receive software updates, security patches or any communication from the app.

这一决定为TikTok带来了一次重要的暂时胜利，其领导层仍在积极努力，试图阻止该应用在美国被禁或出售。截至目前，该禁令的生效日期定于1月19日。一旦禁令实施，美国的应用商店将禁止上架TikTok，这意味着美国用户将无法下载该应用，而已安装TikTok的用户也将无法收软件更新、安全补丁或任何来自该应用的信息。

The bitter reality is that sensible conversations about TikTok are not possible in the US at the moment because the US Congress and the current President of the United States are caught up in a nonstop cycle of fear about China. And whenever fear dominates thinking, intelligent and rational choices are not made. The Supreme Court cannot end the irrational fear about China, but it might stop a ridiculous law from going into effect.

然而，一个严峻的现实是，目前在美国，关于TikTok的理智对话难以展开，因为美国国会和现任美国总统均陷入了对中国无休止的恐惧循环之中。而一旦思维被恐惧主宰，人们就无法做出明智理性的决策。最高法院无法消除这种对中国的非理性恐惧，但它有望阻止这一荒谬法律的生效。

By now, you may likely know the backstory about TikTok: Earlier this year, members of the US Congress authored and passed legislation that was quickly signed by US President Joe Biden, which would either ban the app in the US or require it to be sold to a non-Chinese entity. They said such draconian measures were necessary because they were convinced TikTok was a legitimate threat to US national security. They insist that the app can be manipulated to influence the feelings and attitudes of its US users. Put more bluntly: They want you to believe that TikTok might spread pro-China propaganda, leading Americans to become more sympathetic toward the country. Earlier this month, an appeals court found no evidence to support such a contention, but it nevertheless refused to prevent the ban from going into place on Jan 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the next President of the United States.

目前大家可能已经了解TikTok禁令背后的故事：今年早些时候，美国国会议员起草并通过了一项立法，该立法迅速得到了美国总统乔·拜登的签署。该法案要求TikTok出售给非中国企业，否则将在全美禁止该应用。立法者认为这些严厉的措施