TikTok calls on Supreme Court to issue emergency order to block potential US ban of popular app

TikTok asked the Supreme Court on Monday to step in and issue an emergency order to block the law that would ban the popular video-sharing platform in the U.S. starting next month unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, agreed to sell it.

Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance requested that the court step in before the Jan. 19 deadline to sell the platform or face a ban in the U.S., The Associated Press reported. A similar request was filed by content creators who use the platform to make an income.

“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” the lawyers told the court.

TikTok and critics of a potential ban say the law, which was approved by Congress and signed by President Biden in April, is an attack on freedom of speech and expression, while federal lawmakers who approved the measure claim the law is needed to protect national security and block Americans from consuming what they describe as propaganda from foreign adversaries.

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President-elect Trump, who supported a ban during his first term in office but then vowed during this year’s campaign to “save TikTok,” said his administration would take a look at the situation. His campaign joined the platform to reach younger and less politically engaged voters during the 2024 election cycle.

“As you know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump, who takes office the day after the law takes effect, said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to The Associated Press.

TikTok and ByteDance have said that shutting down the platform for even just a month would force TikTok to lose about a third of its daily users in the U.S. and significant advertising revenue.

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The request first goes to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency appeals from courts in Washington, D.C., although he is likely to solicit input from his fellow justices.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday denied an emergency request to block the law, a procedural ruling that allowed the case to move to the Supreme Court.

The same panel had previously unanimously sided with the law despite a challenge arguing that it violated First Amendment rights.

If the court does not freeze the law, it would take effect Jan. 19 and potentially fine app stores that offer TikTok and internet hosting services that support it.

The Justice Department would be responsible for enforcing the law by investigating possible violators and seeking sanctions.

Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance have said that Trump’s Justice Department might pause enforcement or otherwise attempt to mitigate the law’s most severe consequences.

The lawyers asked the high court to issue a ruling on their emergency request by Jan. 6 because, if their appeal is rejected, they would need time “to coordinate with their service providers to perform the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform only in the United States.”