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TikTok is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court for an urgent delay to gain more time before a planned nationwide ban on the app becomes active next month.
In their request for a temporary injunction, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, argued on Monday that the Court should “grant an injunction pending further review.” They warned that such a ban would “shut down one of America’s most popular speech platforms just before a presidential inauguration.”
Since 2020, TikTok’s future in the U.S. has been uncertain after former President Trump attempted to close the app due to national security issues.
This led to a four-year-long tug-of-war between TikTok and the U.S. government. In April, President Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese entity. In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government in May.
This month, TikTok faced a significant legal setback in its bid to continue operating in the U.S., paving the way for a possible Supreme Court confrontation.
If TikTok does not divest by January 19, it is set to be banned in the U.S.
TikTok warned that the ban would lead to “massive and unprecedented censorship.” They estimated that small businesses could lose over $1 billion in revenue and creators could miss out on nearly $300 million in earnings within a month if the ban goes forward.
Over 170 million Americans use TikTok to share dance routines, news, recipes, and funny videos.
Michael Hughes, a TikTok spokesperson, stated, “The Supreme Court has consistently upheld Americans’ right to free speech. Today, TikTok is asking the Court to apply rigorous scrutiny to speech bans and determine that it violates the 1st Amendment, as it has traditionally done in free speech cases.”
Although Trump initially pushed for a ban during his first term, he reversed his stance while campaigning this year.
“For those who want to keep TikTok in America, vote for Trump,” he said in a video shared on Truth Social in September. “The other side wants to shut it down.”
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