On Friday (December 27), U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on the Supreme Court to delay the enforcement of a law that would either ban TikTok or mandate its sale to an American company. He argued for additional time after assuming office to seek a “political resolution” to the issue.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the case on January 10.
The legislation, passed by Congress in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest ownership of the platform by January 19 or face a nationwide ban.
Trump’s Legal Filing
In his court filing on Friday, Trump described the case as presenting “an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national security concerns on the other.”
Although the filing stated that Trump “takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” it argued that delaying the 19 January deadline would provide him “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution” to the issue without relying on judicial intervention.
TikTok Fights In Court
TikTok, with a user base exceeding 170 million in the United States, and its parent company, ByteDance, have filed multiple legal challenges against the law, arguing that it poses a threat to American free speech protections. However, if the court rules against them and ByteDance does not divest ownership, the app could face an effective ban in the U.S. starting January 19—just one day before Trump’s inauguration.
While the high court previously declined to grant an emergency injunction against the law, TikTok and ByteDance hope for a reconsideration of their case as the ban deadline looms.
Accusations Against TikTok
U.S. officials and lawmakers have accused ByteDance of ties to the Chinese government, allegations that the company firmly denies. Concerns over the app prompted Congress to pass a bill in April.
The U.S. Justice Department argued that TikTok’s alleged ties to China pose a national security risk, a concern echoed by numerous state governments. Nearly two dozen state attorneys general, led by Montana’s Austin Knudsen, have called on the Supreme Court to uphold the law requiring ByteDance and TikTok to either divest or face a ban.
Trump Shifts Stance On TikTok
Trump’s stance on TikTok marks a notable shift from 2020 when he sought to ban the app in the country and compel its sale due to concerns over its Chinese ownership. The change also reflects TikTok’s efforts to build rapport with Trump and his team during the presidential campaign.
Last week, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew just hours after expressing a “warm spot” for the platform and indicating support for allowing TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., at least temporarily. The president-elect also noted that his campaign had garnered billions of views on the app during the election.
Trump told a crowd at AmericaFest, an annual gathering organized by conservative group Turning Point, that they might start thinking about keeping TikTok as “we had a great response with billions of views, billions and billions of views… They brought me a chart, and it was a record, and it was so beautiful to see, and as I looked at it, I said, ‘Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while’.”
