President-elect Donald Trump requested the Supreme Court docket on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into impact till his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the difficulty.
The request got here as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court docket, by which the corporate argued the court docket ought to strike down a regulation that might ban the platform by Jan. 19 whereas the federal government emphasised its place that the statute is required to eradicate a nationwide safety danger.
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” stated Trump’s amicus temporary, which supported neither celebration within the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s alternative for solicitor basic.
The argument submitted to the court docket is the most recent instance of Trump inserting himself in nationwide points earlier than he takes workplace. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with different nations over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal authorities, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans again to the negotiating desk.
Trump has additionally reversed his place on the favored app, having tried to ban it throughout his first time period in workplace over nationwide safety issues. He joined the app throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign and his staff used it to attach with youthful voters, particularly male voters, by pushing content material that was typically macho and aimed toward going viral.
He stated earlier this 12 months that he nonetheless believed there have been nationwide safety dangers with TikTok, however that he opposed banning it. This month, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida.
The filings Friday come forward of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether or not the regulation, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based father or mother firm or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Modification.
Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, main TikTok to attraction the case to the Supreme Court docket.
The temporary from Trump stated he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”
Of their temporary to the Supreme Court docket on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its father or mother firm ByteDance argued the federal appeals court docket erred in its ruling and primarily based its choice on “alleged ‘risks’ that China could exercise control” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its international associates.
The Biden administration has argued in court docket that TikTok poses a nationwide safety danger attributable to its connections to China. Officers say Chinese language authorities can compel ByteDance at hand over data on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to unfold or suppress data.
However the authorities “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s authorized submitting stated, including that the U.S. fears are predicated on future dangers.