By Julie Clover
Social media platform TikTok today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily halt its looming ban while TikTok waits for an appeal to be resolved. TikTok will be banned from U.S. app stores starting Jan. 19 because parent company ByteDance failed to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company as required by the bill in April.
TikTok is urging the Supreme Court to hear its appeal and is sticking to a free speech argument that a lower appeals court rejected. TikTok's petition to the Supreme Court argues that Congress has “enacted a sweeping and unprecedented clampdown on free speech” and that TikTok is one of the “most popular and important means of communication” in the United States.
U.S. lawmakers have given ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok to a company outside of China, but ByteDance says it can't do so. ByteDance says it can't hand over TikTok's source code to a new owner because it would take years for engineers to become familiar enough with it to perform routine maintenance, and ByteDance also has no plans to give a third-party company access to its TikTok algorithm.
Application seeking emergency injunction pending appeal to Supreme Court: “The Supreme Court has a well-established reputation for protecting Americans' right to free speech. Today, we ask the Court to do what it has traditionally done in free speech cases:… — TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) December 16, 2024
In addition, China has said it will vigorously oppose any sale of the TikTok app, and any sale would have to be approved by the Chinese government. Under the terms of the bill, if TikTok is not sold, app store owners Google, Apple and others would be required to stop distributing the app in January. If TikTok is ultimately banned, users who have already downloaded the app will be able to continue using it as long as it remains functional, but there will be no distribution method to get the app in the United States.
US Lawmakers want TikTok to be sold to a company outside of China over concerns that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over user information in the United States, plus there has been speculation that China could use TikTok to spread political propaganda.
It is possible that the TikTok ban could be lifted or delayed by President-elect Donald Trump. According to CNBC, Trump told reporters on Monday that his administration would “take a look at TikTok.” Trump tried to ban TikTok while in office, but said this year that he opposed legislation passed by Congress.
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