President-elect Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court to postpone the enforcement of a law that aims to ban the social media app TikTok or force its sale. Trump's legal team argues that the court should grant additional time to explore a political resolution to the dispute.
“In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues,” Trump's legal team wrote. This move seeks to allow the incoming administration to develop a strategic approach to the ongoing concerns surrounding TikTok.
Trump previously expressed a “warm spot” for TikTok during a press conference, indicating his administration’s intention to evaluate the app and the potential ban closely.
The controversy began in April when President Joe Biden enacted a law compelling ByteDance, TikTok's parent company in the Chinese mainland, to sell the app within 270 days, citing national security concerns. Failure to comply would mandate app store operators like Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their platforms.
In response, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the US government in May to block the ban, a move that received widespread criticism. However, in December, the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed TikTok's claim that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million US users.
TikTok has now escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the ban would shut down one of America’s most popular speech platforms just before a presidential inauguration, potentially silencing millions of users.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s request on January 10 to determine whether the law unlawfully restricts freedom of speech under the First Amendment. If the court does not rule in TikTok’s favor and no divestment occurs, the app could be effectively banned in the United States by January 19, just one day before Trump assumes office.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
