17th December 2024
TikTok has filed an emergency appeal Monday with the US Supreme Court, seeking to block a law that could lead to the short video app being banned nationwide starting January 19, 2025.
TikTok wants the US Supreme Court to temporarily halt the law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the popular video-sharing platform or shut it down.
The appeal came the same day TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew met with US President-elect Donald Trump, according to an NBC News report.
At a press conference Monday, Trump expressed having “a warm spot” for TikTok and indicated his administration would review the app and its potential ban.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, would block TikTok from US app stores and web hosting services unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests from the platform by January 19.
TikTok filed for a temporary hold on the law while it challenges a lower court ruling that upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. TikTok has requested the Supreme Court to make a decision by January 6.
In its filing, TikTok argued, “Congress has enacted a massive and unprecedented speech restriction,” claiming that the law would “shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms” just before a presidential inauguration.
The company said the law would silence users’ ability to communicate about politics, commerce, the arts, and other public matters.
TikTok further argued that small businesses relying on the platform would suffer “substantial and unrecoverable monetary and competitive harms.”
The potential ban could escalate US-China tensions just as Trump prepares to take office. Trump, who once sought to ban TikTok during his first term, now stands as an unexpected ally for the app, amid concerns that banning TikTok would benefit Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
Trump’s shift in stance reflects conservative criticism of Meta for allegedly suppressing right-wing content, including its ban of Trump after the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
The US government claims TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spread propaganda, allegations strongly denied by China and ByteDance. Earlier this month, a three-judge US appeals court panel unanimously upheld the law’s premise that TikTok’s divestment from Chinese ownership is necessary to protect national security.
