President-elect Donald Trump has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the implementation of a law that would ban the popular social media app TikTok or force its sale.
Trump argued he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.
The court is set to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 10.
The law would require TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban.
The U.S. Congress voted in April to ban it unless ByteDance sells the app by Jan. 19.
TikTok, which has over 170 million U.S. users, and its parent have sought to have the law struck down.
But if the court does not rule in their favour and no divestment occurs, the app could be effectively banned in the United States on Jan. 19, a day before Trump takes office.
Trump’s support for TikTok is a reversal from 2020 when he tried to block the app in the United States.
He forced its sale to American companies because of its Chinese ownership.
It also shows the significant effort by the company to forge inroads with Trump and his team during the presidential campaign.
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,’’ said D. John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer.
Sauer is also the president-elect’s pick for U.S. solicitor general.
Read Related News:
- Trump drawing-up list of Pentagon officers to fire – sources
- US accuses Iran behind cyber attacks on Harris election campaigns
- Trump: Authorities investigate motive in assassination attempt
- 1st criminal trial of former US president Trump, begins
- Trump’s campaign turn bloody in Pennsylvania
“Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of Jan. 19, 2025.
“The court also considers the merits of this case. Thus, it permits President Trump’s incoming administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case,’’ he added.
Trump previously met with TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, in December; hours after the president-elect expressed he had a “warm spot” for the app.
He favoured allowing TikTok to keep operating in the United States for at least a little while.
The president-elect also said he had received billions of views on the social media platform during his presidential campaign.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company previously said the Justice Department misstated its ties to China. It argued the app’s content recommendation engine and user data were stored in the United States on cloud servers.
The servers are being operated by Oracle Corp opens a new tab while content moderation decisions that affect U.S. users are made in the United States as well.
Free speech advocates separately told the Supreme Court on Friday the U.S. law against TikTok evokes the censorship regimes put in place by the United States’ authoritarian enemies.
The U.S. Justice Department has argued that Chinese control of TikTok poses a continuing threat to national security, a position supported by most U.S. lawmakers.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 22 attorneys general on Friday in filing an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to uphold the national TikTok divest-or-ban legislation. (Reuters)
