Trump asks US Supreme Court to pause law threatening TikTok ban

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief on Friday urging the Supreme Court to delay enforcement of a law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese owner, ByteDance. The law is set to take effect the day before Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration.

Trump’s legal team argued that the court should pause the statutory deadline to allow time for further deliberation. The brief stated, “In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues.” This pause, the team wrote, would give the incoming Trump administration an opportunity to pursue a political resolution to the issue.

During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump strongly opposed TikTok, citing national security concerns. He attempted to ban the app, arguing that its Chinese ownership posed risks of data misuse or propaganda manipulation by the Chinese government. These claims were denied by both ByteDance and Beijing.

U.S. officials expressed unease over TikTok's immense popularity with younger users and its alleged potential for spreading propaganda. Trump had previously advocated for a U.S. company to purchase TikTok, with a portion of the sale benefiting the U.S. government. His successor, President Joe Biden, signed a law to ban the app over similar concerns.

Trump’s Reversal on TikTok
In a surprising turn of events, Trump has since softened his stance on TikTok. At a recent press conference, he expressed a newfound openness to the app, saying his administration would reconsider the potential ban. Earlier this month, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Trump explained his change of heart, stating, "Now (that) I'm thinking about it, I'm for TikTok, because you need competition." He pointed out that without TikTok, platforms like Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, would dominate the social media landscape.

Trump’s critique of Facebook comes against the backdrop of the platform banning him after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Although these bans were later lifted, they left a lasting mark on Trump’s relationship with major social media platforms.

The Legal Battle
In the brief filed Friday, Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, clarified that the president-elect was not taking a position on the legal merits of the case. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” Sauer wrote. Instead, the brief urged the court to delay the divestment deadline, set for Jan. 19, 2025, to allow the incoming administration time to seek a political resolution.

The case has also drawn the attention of free speech advocates. A coalition of rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, submitted a separate brief to the Supreme Court, opposing the enforcement of the ban. They argued that such a move would infringe on Americans’ free speech rights and disrupt their ability to access diverse online content.

“Such a ban is unprecedented in our country and, if it goes into effect, will cause a far-reaching disruption in Americans’ ability to engage with the content and audiences of their choice online,” the rights groups’ filing stated.

Supreme Court Proceedings
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s appeal against Biden’s law, formally known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. TikTok claims that the act violates its First Amendment free speech rights. With oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10, the case will move forward on an expedited timeline.

AFP, along with other fact-checking organizations, has been contracted by TikTok in several countries to verify videos containing potential misinformation. This partnership underscores TikTok’s efforts to counter criticism and maintain credibility as the legal battle intensifies.