The TikTok brief kind video internet hosting service brand is seen on a cellular system on this illustration picture taken in Warsaw, Poland on 17 July, 2024.
Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Justice requested the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay implementation of a legislation that may ban in style social media app TikTok or pressure its sale by Jan. 19.
Last week, Trump filed a authorized temporary arguing he ought to have time after taking workplace on Jan. 20 to pursue a “political decision” to the difficulty. The court docket is ready to listen to arguments within the case on Jan. 10.
The legislation, handed in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese proprietor, ByteDance, to divest the platform’s U.S. belongings or face a ban. TikTok didn’t instantly remark.
The DOJ mentioned in its submitting that Trump’s request might solely be granted if ByteDance had established it was more likely to succeed on the deserves however the firm had not executed so.
DOJ mentioned nobody disputes China “seeks to undermine U.S. pursuits by amassing delicate information about Americans and fascinating in covert and malign affect operations.”
The authorities asserted that “nobody can severely dispute that (China’s) management of TikTok via ByteDance represents a grave risk to nationwide safety: TikTok’s assortment of reams of delicate information about 170 million Americans and their contacts makes it a strong software for espionage.”
Trump lawyer D. John Sauer wrote final week the president-elect “respectfully requests that the Court contemplate staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, whereas it considers the deserves of this case, thus allowing President Trump’s incoming administration the chance to pursue a political decision of the questions at subject within the case.”
TikTok on Friday urged the Supreme Court to dam the legislation on free-speech grounds beneath the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It mentioned Congress had not sought to ban Chinese-owned apps like Shein or Temu, which strongly suggests “it focused TikTok for its social-media content material, not its information.”
If the court docket doesn’t block the legislation by Jan. 19, new downloads of TikTok on Apple AAPL.O or Google GOOGL.O app shops could be banned however current customers might proceed to entry the app. Services would degrade over time and finally cease working as corporations will likely be barred from offering help.
Biden might prolong the deadline by 90 days if he certifies ByteDance is making substantial progress towards a divestiture.
Trump’s help for TikTok is a reversal from 2020, when he tried to dam the app within the United States and pressure its sale to American corporations due to its Chinese possession.
