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US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to delay the impending ban on TikTok as he works on a “political decision”.
His lawyer submitted a legal brief on Friday to the court that Mr. Trump “opposes the ban on TikTok” and “seeks the ability to solve the problems he has by using politics as soon as he takes office”.
On January 10, the court will hear arguments on a US law that requires TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the social media company to an American company or lift the ban on January 19 – the day before Trump takes office.
US officials and lawmakers have accused ByteDance of colluding with the Chinese government – something the company denies.
The allegations about the app, which has 170 million users in the US, led Congress to pass a resolution in April, which President Joe Biden signed into law, which also includes a ban or ban.
TikTok and ByteDance have filed several legal challenges against the law, saying it threatens the freedom of American security, without success. Without a potential buyer so far, the company’s last chance to overturn the ban has been through the U.S. Supreme Court.
Although the Supreme Court previously refused to act on a request for an emergency declaration against the law, it agreed that TikTok, ByteDance and the US government will hear their cases on January 10 – just a few days before the ban will take place.
Trump met with the CEO of TikTokShou Zi Chew, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last week.
In his court filing on Friday, Trump said the case represents “an unprecedented, recent, and difficult conflict between free speech on the one hand, and foreign policy and national security concerns on the other”.
While the filing said Trump “does not represent the cause of the dispute”, it added that pushing back the January 19 deadline would give Trump “an opportunity to pursue a political resolution” in the matter without going to court. .
The US Department of Justice has said that China’s links to TikTok pose a national security threat – and several governments have raised concerns about the popular social media app.
About a dozen state attorneys, led by Austin Knudsen of Montana, have urged the Supreme Court to uphold the law forcing ByteDance and TikTok to stop or be banned.
In early December, a federal appeals court rejected his efforts overturning the legislation, saying it “is the culmination of many, bipartisan efforts by Congress and the next president.”
Trump has publicly said he opposes the ban, despite supporting one in his first term as president.
“I have a good place in my heart for TikTok, because I won the youth with 34 points,” he said at a press conference in early December, although the majority of young voters supported his opponent, Kamala Harris.
“There are those who say that TikTok has something to do with this,” he added.
