Chinese short-form video app TikTok will undergo a last-minute review of its potential ban in the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear its application for a reprieve.
The court did not act on urgent requests from TikTok, its Chinese parent company ByteDance and some users who post content on the social media platform for an order halting the impending ban.
However, it agreed to hear arguments on the matter on January 10 – just over a week before the deadline for the app to be divested from ByteDance or banned in the United States.
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“We are pleased with the Supreme Court's order today. We are confident the court will rule the TikTok ban unconstitutional so that the more than 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights.
An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is TikTok's last resort to avoid a ban that would make it significantly less valuable to ByteDance and its investors.
If the Supreme Court does not rule in its favor on this matter, TikTok's withdrawal from the United States is almost a certainty.
TikTok has repeatedly said it has no plans to sever its relationship with ByteDance.
The app has repeatedly said in its Supreme Court filing that if the law is not suspended, it will mean its U.S. users will be unable to use the app.
“A slight delay in enforcing this bill would create breathing space for the courts to conduct an orderly review and the new administration to evaluate the matter before closing an important channel through which Americans communicate with their fellow citizens and the world,” the report states.
In the same filing, the company also asked for a ruling on its request for an injunction by January 6, saying that if the court did do so, it would need to “coordinate with its service providers to enforce a U.S.-only shutdown of the TikTok platform.” “Complex Task” does not rule in its favour.
At the same time, as early as June, TikTok also argued in a brief submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals that the Chinese government not allowed to peel off From byte bounce.
“Just as the United States restricts the export of U.S. technology, such as certain computer chips, the Chinese government regulates the transfer of technology developed in China,” TikTok argued.
Court of Appeal Refuting TikTok’s arguments and upheld the law that forced the sale earlier this month.
Can Trump save TikTok?
Legal experts speak US News Media CBS News and National Public Radio (NPR), a public broadcaster said the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion on the matter was unlikely to differ from the Court of Appeals.
In this case, if the “divest or ban” law is upheld, TikTok's only possible savior may be Donald Trump.
The US president-elect actually spearheaded efforts to ban the app during his first term in 2019. But during this year's election campaign, he vowed to end the ban on TikTok.
This week he even said He has a “good impression” of TikTok In his mind, he believed that this won him the youth vote, which played a crucial role in his re-election.
While that doesn't mean Trump can overturn the Supreme Court's ruling, it has sparked some speculation about what options the incoming president might pursue to prevent divestiture or ban laws from taking effect.
Experts who spoke to CBS and NPR said Trump will either refuse to enforce the law outright or make app stores like Apple and Google feel forced to cut the app's availability to U.S. users .
“If he wants to help TikTok…he has to convince Apple's general counsel, and when Apple CEO Tim Cook asked if we should continue to distribute the app, the general counsel said, yes, I think it's okay,” Alan Rosensteinan associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School told NPR.
This is because app stores will face hefty fines if they continue to offer TikTok.
Meanwhile, Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University's Technology Policy Institute, told CBS News that Trump could simply refuse to provide the resources needed to enforce the ban.
But the biggest tool available to Trump is the fine print of the divestment or ban law itself – if the US president determines that TikTok is no longer owned or controlled by ByteDance, he has the power to delay the ban for 90 days.
“There’s a scenario where ByteDance could move some files, move some assets from one company to another, do some fancy legal work. Basically, it would give Trump enough cover to declare that TikTok is no longer Controlled by byte bounces,” Rozenshtein explained.
Also read:
ByteDance “prefers to shut down TikTok in the US” if legal fight fails
Trump: TikTok ban will help 'enemies of the people'
The United States says the forced sale of TikTok is for security rather than free speech
'China won't allow it': TikTok compares spinoff to chip ban
Trump meets with CEO and says he's 'interested' in TikTok
Donald Trump may try to block US ban on TikTok – WaPo
Trump says he will ‘never ban TikTok’ if elected – New York Post
U MP: TikTok CEO “must explain role in Romanian polls” – Politico
Canada orders TikTok to close offices in country – Reuters
TikTok comes under U.S. legal crackdown for 'harmful' impact on children
U.S. polls show that nearly half of Generation Z wish TikTok had never been invented
