TikTok on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis and block federal law that would ban the popular platform in the United States unless China-based parent company ByteDance agreed to sell it.
Lawyers for the company and ByteDance asked the judges to intervene before the January 19 legal deadline. A similar lawsuit has been filed by content creators who rely on the platform for income, as well as some of TikTok’s more than 170 million users in the United States
“A minor delay in enforcing the law will provide room for this court to conduct a proper review and for the new administration to evaluate this matter – before closing this important channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world,” the lawyers said the companies told the Supreme Court.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who once supported a ban but then promised during the campaign to “save TikTok,” said his administration would look at the situation.
“As you know, TikTok is close to my heart,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. During his election campaign, he saw the platform as an opportunity to reach younger, less politically active voters.
Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to two people familiar with the president-elect’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly and to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity.
The companies said a closure of just one month would cause TikTok to lose significant advertising revenue and about a third of its daily users in the US
The case could pique the court’s interest because it pits free speech rights against the government’s stated goals of protecting national security while raising novel questions about social media platforms.
The request will first go to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency court appeals in the nation’s capital. He will almost certainly seek the opinion of all nine justices.
The ban is due to come into force on January 19th
On Friday, a group of federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected an emergency motion to block the law, a procedural decision that allowed the case to be sent to the Supreme Court.
The same panel had previously unanimously upheld the law as part of a challenge to the First Amendment, claiming it violated the right to free speech.
Without a court block, the law would take effect on January 19, exposing app stores and internet hosting services that offer TikTok to potential fines.
It would be the job of the Justice Department to enforce the law, investigate possible violations and impose sanctions. But lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance have argued that Trump’s Justice Department could suspend enforcement or otherwise try to mitigate the law’s most serious consequences. Trump takes office one day after the law takes effect.
The Supreme Court could temporarily put the law on hold to allow justices to more fully consider the First Amendment and other issues. You could also quickly plan arguments and try to reach a decision by January 19th.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court could reject the emergency appeal, which would allow the law to come into force as planned.
With the latter prospect in mind, the companies’ lawyers called for a decision on their emergency application by January 6, 2025, saying they would need the time “to coordinate with their service providers to carry out the complex task of closure.” the TikTok platform only in the United States.”
The case moved through the courts relatively quickly after bipartisan majorities in Congress passed the law and President Joe Biden signed it in April.
