TikTok has submitted a request to the Supreme Court to beg for an emergency order to prevent the social media app from being banned in the United States next month.
Attorneys for TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance are requesting that the high court intervene on an urgent basis in order to block the federal statute that would prohibit the popular platform from operating in the United States.
As it stands, TikTok will be banned unless ByteDance agrees to sell it.
The company’s lawyers begged the justices to intervene before the deadline of January 19th, which was set by the law, as NBC News reported.
TikTok has more than 170 million users and content creators in the United States, and many of them have signed a similar petition.
These individuals rely on the network for their revenue.
“A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” lawyers for the companies told the Supreme Court.
Even though he campaigned on a promise to “save TikTok,” President Donald Trump said his administration would review the matter.
Trump also previously supported a ban.
However, Trump has more recently warned that banning TikTok would benefit Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which he described as a bigger threat.
“As you know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
His campaign saw the platform as a way to reach younger, less politically engaged voters.
According to two individuals who were not authorized to speak publicly about the president-elect’s plans, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
A suspension that lasts for only one month would result in TikTok losing approximately one-third of its daily users in the United States and substantial advertising revenue, according to the companies.
The case has the potential to pique the court’s interest due to its unique nature, which juxtaposes the government’s stated objectives of safeguarding national security with the right to free speech.
Additionally, it raises novel concerns regarding social media platforms.
The initial recipient of the request is Chief Justice John Roberts, who is responsible for emergency appeals from courts in the nation’s capital.
It is almost certain that he will solicit input from all nine justices.
A procedural ruling that permitted the case to proceed to the Supreme Court was issued on Friday by a panel of federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who denied an emergency petition to block the law.
The same panel had previously unanimously sustained the law in response to a First Amendment challenge that alleged it violated free speech rights.
App stores that provide TikTok and internet hosting services that facilitate it would be subject to potential penalties if the law were to take effect on January 19th without a court-ordered freeze.
The Justice Department would be responsible for enforcing the law by conducting investigations into potential violations and pursuing sanctions.
However, attorneys for ByteDance and TikTok have contended that the Justice Department under Trump may suspend enforcement or otherwise attempt to alleviate the most grievous repercussions of the law.
Trump takes office a day after the law goes into effect.
One possible solution would allow the justices may conduct a more thorough examination of the First Amendment and other matters, which would be the Supreme Court moving to create a provisionally suspension of the law.
Additionally, they could expedite the scheduling of arguments and endeavor to reach a decision by January 19.
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