WASHINGTON — TikTok, a video-based social networking app with millions of users in the United States, urged the Supreme Court on Monday to prevent a bill that would ban the service.
In question is a bipartisan bill that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. If the justices don’t step in, it will take effect on January 19, the day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would force ByteDance, the Chinese corporation that owns TikTok, to sell the platform to an American business or risk being banned.
TikTok has contested the regulation, claiming it infringes upon its First Amendment right to free speech.
As stated in the court filing, “The Act will shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration,” according to TikTok.
“This, in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern,” they stated.
By January 6, TikTok requested that the Supreme Court take action.
According to a statement released by the company, “Today, TikTok is asking the court to do what it has traditionally done in free speech cases: apply the most rigorous scrutiny to speech bans and conclude that it violates the First Amendment,” CEO Michael Hughes stated.
A final ruling by the justices regarding whether the measure satisfies constitutional requirements would be delayed if the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the legislation. The court might give a final decision in a matter of months if it expedites its review of the case.
The statute would take effect as intended if the justices denied TikTok’s application. While the statute is in effect, TikTok may still ask the high court to review it, but the judges would have already indicated that they don’t think the firm will win.
Concerns regarding the Chinese government’s influence over the app have led the federal government to defend the law on the grounds of national security.
TikTok, eight individual users, and the conservative TikTok group Based Politics Inc. all filed separate challenges, claiming the rule also infringes on their right to free speech.
Each challenger submitted a separate application to the Supreme Court. The prohibition would be “devastating to their livelihoods, their communities, and their ability to express themselves and hear the ideas of their choosing,” according to a letter written by members of the TikTok community.
Despite concluding that the law did implicate the First Amendment and required a thorough analysis, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed it.
The three-judge panel used court precedent to reach the conclusion that the law was narrowly crafted to achieve a compelling government interest.
The government’s national security arguments, such as worries that the Chinese government would obtain user data on Americans and perhaps alter app content, were upheld by the appeals court.
Since its 2018 introduction in the US, TikTok has grown in popularity, with 170 million users as of right now.
Streams of short-form video content are shown to consumers via its algorithm, which adapts to their interests.
From the start, there were worries about national security, and Trump once tried to outlaw it. After the election, Trump has apparently changed his mind, claiming that he could “save TikTok.”
When questioned about the law on Monday, Trump stated that he has a “warm spot” in his heart for TikTok.He was also scheduled to meetwith TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
Civil rights organizations who have entered the court battle on the basis of free speech support the corporation.
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