As the clock winds down on TikTok becoming banned in the United States, the company asked the Supreme Court on Monday, Dec. 16, to block the law that would remove it from app stores. The law is set to take effect Jan. 19, forcing the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest the platform.
Earlier this year, Congress pushed the bipartisan measure forward, and President Joe Biden put pen to paper in April, paving the way for a ban on the social media app, which is used by millions of Americans.
An emergency court filing on Monday by TikTok’s lawyers said the law violates the First Amendment, pointing to the upcoming presidential inauguration and silencing its users.
“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.”
Court filing by TikTok’s lawyers
A spokesperson for the video-based social media platform said they are asking the Supreme Court to rule that the law effectively bans the company’s right to free speech.
They asked the justices to make a decision by Jan. 6.
Civil liberties groups and individual users have joined the fight, filing charges that say the law disrupts their free speech rights. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s previous arguments that the ban was unconstitutional.
As Straight Arrow News reported, lawmakers recently sent a letter to Google and Apple telling the companies to gear up to remove the app from their app stores.
Some lawmakers consider TikTok a threat to America’s national security because of its Chinese ownership, and laws in that country that compel social media companies to work with the government when asked. Likewise, because ByteDance is based in China, lawmakers say the Chinese government could use the company to surveil Americans.
