EGN NEWS DESK
President-elect Donald Trump requested the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into impact till his administration can pursue a “political decision” to the difficulty.
The request got here as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the courtroom, wherein the corporate argued the courtroom ought to strike down a legislation that would 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 place on the underlying deserves of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court think about staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, whereas it considers the deserves of this case,” mentioned Trump’s amicus temporary, which supported neither party within the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s selection for solicitor basic.
The argument submitted to the courtroom is the newest 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.
He has been holding conferences with international leaders and enterprise officers at his Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida whereas he assembles his administration, together with a gathering final week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has 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 TikTok throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign and his workforce used it to attach with youthful voters, particularly male voters, by pushing content material that was typically macho and aimed toward going viral.
He mentioned earlier this 12 months that he nonetheless believed there have been nationwide safety dangers with TikTok, however that he opposed banning it.
The filings Friday come forward of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether or not the legislation, 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 Amendment. The legislation was was signed by President Joe Biden in April after it handed Congress with broad bipartisan help. TikTok and ByteDance filed a authorized problem afterwards.
Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, main TikTok to attraction the case to the Supreme Court.
The temporary from Trump mentioned he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the power to resolve the problems at hand by way of political means as soon as he takes workplace.”
In their temporary to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its father or mother firm ByteDance argued the federal appeals courtroom erred in its ruling and based mostly its choice on “alleged ‘dangers’ that China may train management” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its international associates.
The Biden administration has argued in courtroom that TikTok poses a nationwide safety danger as a consequence of its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance at hand over info on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to unfold or suppress info.
But the federal government “concedes that it has no proof China has ever tried to take action,” TikTok’s authorized submitting mentioned, including that the U.S. fears are predicated on future dangers.
In its submitting Friday, the Biden administration mentioned as a result of TikTok “is built-in with ByteDance and depends on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its company construction carries with it danger.
