President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to stop implementing a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, to sell the platform or face a ban.
Trump said his next administration should have the opportunity to seek a “political solution” to the issue. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the case on January 10, ahead of a January 19 deadline for ByteDance to withdraw or ban TikTok.
TikTok, which has more than 170 million US users, has been fighting to overturn the law, citing concerns about its legality. However, if the Supreme Court doesn’t side with TikTok and the sale doesn’t go through, the app could actually be banned in the US a day before Trump’s inauguration.
ByteDance has argued that its US operations are independent, with user data stored on servers run by Oracle and content moderation managed locally.
Trump’s stance on TikTok represents a reversal from 2020, when he called for the app to be banned due to its Chinese ownership. He mentioned his legal team, led by Dr. John Sawyer, who is also his nominee for U.S. attorney general, said the president-elect takes no position on the objectivity of the law but is seeking more time to address the issue diplomatically.
The request comes after Trump’s December meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, during which he expressed a positive view of the app, citing its role in garnering billions of views during his campaign. TikTok has not yet commented on the latest developments.
The Justice Department has asserted that TikTok’s Chinese ties pose a national security risk, a position supported by several US lawmakers. Meanwhile, free expression advocates have criticized the law as reminiscent of censorship practices used by authoritarian regimes.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, along with 22 other state attorneys general, filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the legislation. The case highlights the debate over national security, freedom of expression, and regulation of global technology platforms.