Written by Kanishka Singh and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt implementation of a law banning or forcing the sale of the popular social media app TikTok, saying he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political solution.” for this issue.
The court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on January 10.
TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, is required by law to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban. The US Congress voted in April to ban it unless ByteDance sells the app by January 19.
TikTok, which has more than 170 million US users, and its parent company are seeking to overturn the law. But if the court doesn't rule in their favor and the divestment doesn't go through, the app could actually be banned in the US on January 19, one day before Trump takes office.
Trump's support for TikTok is a reversal from 2020, when he tried to ban the app in the United States and force its sale to American companies due to its Chinese ownership.
It also shows the company's great effort to make progress with Trump and his team during the presidential campaign.
Dr. said. John Sawyer, Trump's lawyer and the president-elect's pick for U.S. attorney general: “President Trump is not taking a position on the merits of this dispute.”
“Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider postponing the January 19, 2025 divestment deadline while it considers the merits of this case, thereby allowing the incoming administration of President Trump the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the issues raised in the case.” “The case,” he added.
Trump previously met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in December, hours after the president-elect expressed his admiration for the app and that he would prefer to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States for at least a short time.
The president-elect also said that he 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 bungled its ties to China, arguing that its content recommendation engine and user data were stored in the United States on cloud servers operated by the company. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:) while content moderation decisions affecting US users are also made in the US.
Free speech advocates separately told the Supreme Court on Friday that the US law against TikTok invokes censorship regimes put in place by America's authoritarian enemies.
The US Justice Department has said Chinese control of TikTok poses an ongoing national security threat, a position supported by most US lawmakers.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 22 attorneys general on Friday to file an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to uphold national legislation to take down or ban TikTok.
