The Department of Justice, with the United States of America as the sole petitioner, has pleaded with the Supreme Court to reject the request made by President-elected Donald Trump for the stay of a law that requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to disentangle itself from its American properties or else face a prohibition.
In arguments put forth in a brief submitted last week, arguing that he should have time after taking office on January 20 to seek a political resolution to the issue. The Supreme Court would hear the case on January 10.
In April 2024, the new law was signed that compels ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations of TikTok on or before January 19, 2025, with a nationwide ban being the penalty for non-compliance. In the filing, the DOJ maintained that, unless ByteDance could show a strong likelihood of prevailing in its legal challenge, Trump’s request should not be granted.
The DOJ, on the other hand, argued that the control exerted by China through ByteDance over TikTok is a “grave threat to national security,” and below that, it has been elaborated with regard to the sensitive data collected via the platform from 170 million American users along with its potential as an espionage tool.
At the same time, TikTok has filed a motion with the highest court of the country to intervene and undo the law on the grounds that it is in contradiction to the free speech safeguards of the First Amendment. It also stated that, unlike other Chinese-based platforms, including Shein and Temu, Congress did not consider banning TikTok—clearly suggesting that the government does not regard its existence as a threat to data but a pull to the social media app.
It remains to be seen if TikTok would pull in right away into the Supreme Court to contest the new ban because the company argues the act violates their right to free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment. It also stated that, unlike other Chinese-based platforms, including Shein and Temu, Congress did not consider banning TikTok—clearly suggesting that the government does not regard its existence as a threat to data but a pull to the social media app.
If the court fails to intervene before January 19, it would prohibit all new downloads of TikTok in the Apple and Google app stores. Existing users would still have access to the app, though gradually reduced as service providers would be indeed mandated not to provide the services. President Joe Biden, however, retains the power to push the divestment deadline forward by 90 days if he believes that ByteDance is making an important step in completing a sale.
