The US Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay a law that could lead to a ban or forced sale of TikTok by January 19. The law, passed in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US assets or face a ban.
Trump had filed a legal brief last week, asking for time after his inauguration on January 20 to seek a “political resolution” to the issue. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on January 10.
The DOJ argued that Trump’s request should be denied because ByteDance did not prove it would succeed in its case. The department highlighted that China’s efforts to undermine US interests by collecting sensitive data on Americans were clear. The government claimed that TikTok’s access to data from 170 million Americans made it a potential tool for espionage.
Trump’s legal team, led by D. John Sauer, argued that the incoming president should be allowed to delay the January 19 deadline so his administration can explore a political resolution.
TikTok also made a legal move, asking the court to block the law, citing free speech protections under the First Amendment. The company argued that Congress didn’t try to ban other Chinese-owned apps like Shein or Temu, suggesting that TikTok was specifically targeted for its content, not its data collection.
If the law is enforced by January 19, TikTok will no longer be available for new downloads from Apple and Google app stores. However, existing users can still access the app, though its services will eventually stop working as support is withdrawn.
President Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if ByteDance makes substantial progress toward divesting TikTok’s US assets. This marks a shift from Trump’s 2020 stance, when he attempted to block the app over security concerns linked to its Chinese ownership.
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