Lawyers representing President-elect Donald Trump have requested that the Supreme Court delay the enforcement of a law mandating TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to either sell the popular short-form video app or face a ban in the United States.
If ByteDance does not sell the app, the restriction is slated to come into force shortly, on January 19. ByteDance is contesting the law’s constitutionality, officially known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, with the Supreme Court set to hear the case on January 10.
In a recent brief, Trump’s legal team characterised the deadline for the sale or ban, occurring just one day before his inauguration, as “unfortunate timing,” arguing that it hampers his capability to steer the United States’ foreign policy.
Although the filing does not outline Trump’s potential strategies regarding the matter, it asserts that he “alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a solution that preserves the platform while addressing the national security issues raised by the Government.”
Additionally, the filing highlights that Trump currently has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, which enables him to assess the app’s significance as a unique avenue for freedom of expression, including fundamental political discourse.
Proponents of the law argue that TikTok poses a national security risk, suggesting that the Chinese government could exploit the platform to gather data and disseminate propaganda to American users. Although Trump sought to prohibit TikTok during his initial presidential term, he has recently shown support for the application. During his campaign, he shared a post on Truth Social stating, “FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!”
Numerous civil liberties and free speech organisations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have submitted their own briefs in favour of TikTok’s appeal, contending that “the government has not provided credible evidence of ongoing or imminent harm caused by TikTok.”