In a legal filing submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump requested a delay on the enforcement of a law set to ban TikTok in the US starting January 19.
The filing stated, “President Trump has the unique skills, public support, and determination needed to resolve the issue while addressing the government’s national security concerns, concerns that he himself has acknowledged.”
The concerns focus on ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company based in China, and whether the data of US users could be exposed in ways that threaten national security.
TikTok has strongly denied these allegations, yet Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok by January 19 to prevent the app from being banned in the US.
During his first term, Trump raised similar national security concerns about TikTok. However, during his recent campaign, he joined the platform and showed interest in preserving it. Speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, he mentioned having a “soft spot” for TikTok, partly because it helped him connect with younger voters during the campaign.
Despite TikTok’s repeated legal efforts to challenge the law, most have failed. However, the company achieved a small victory when the Supreme Court agreed to review the constitutionality of the legislation.
TikTok and the US Justice Department were required to electronically submit their arguments by Friday. An oral hearing is set for January 10, just days before the law’s January 19 deadline.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have urged Apple, Amazon, and Google to prepare to remove TikTok from their app stores if the ban goes into effect.
