DOJ urges Supreme Court docket to reject Trump request to delay TikTok ban legislation

(Corrects paragraph 5 to take away extraneous ‘not’)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Division of Justice requested the Supreme Court docket late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay implementation of a legislation that will ban common social media app TikTok or pressure its sale by Jan. 19.

Final week, Trump filed a authorized temporary arguing he ought to have time after taking workplace on Jan. 20 to pursue a “political decision” to the problem. The courtroom is ready to listen to arguments within the case on Jan. 10.

The legislation, handed in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese language proprietor, ByteDance, to divest the platform’s U.S. belongings or face a ban. TikTok didn’t instantly remark.

The DOJ stated in its submitting that Trump’s request might solely be granted if ByteDance had established it was more likely to succeed on the deserves however the firm had not finished so.

DOJ stated nobody disputes China “seeks to undermine U.S. pursuits by amassing delicate knowledge about People and fascinating in covert and malign affect operations.”

The federal government asserted that “nobody can critically dispute that (China’s) management of TikTok by way of ByteDance represents a grave menace to nationwide safety: TikTok’s assortment of reams of delicate knowledge about 170 million People and their contacts makes it a strong device for espionage.”

Trump lawyer D. John Sauer wrote final week the president-elect “respectfully requests that the Court docket contemplate staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, whereas it considers the deserves of this case, thus allowing President Trump’s incoming administration the chance to pursue a political decision of the questions at subject within the case.”

TikTok on Friday urged the Supreme Court docket to dam the legislation on free-speech grounds below the First Modification of the U.S. Structure. It stated Congress had not sought to ban Chinese language-owned apps like Shein or Temu, which strongly suggests “it focused TikTok for its social-media content material, not its knowledge.”

If the courtroom doesn’t block the legislation by Jan. 19, new downloads of TikTok on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) app shops could be banned however present customers might proceed to entry the app. Providers would degrade over time and finally cease working as firms might be barred from offering assist.

Biden might prolong the deadline by 90 days if he certifies ByteDance is making substantial progress towards a divestiture.

Trump’s assist for TikTok is a reversal from 2020, when he tried to dam the app in the USA and pressure its sale to American firms due to its Chinese language possession.