On December 17, 2024, TikTok filed an emergency request with the United States Supreme Court on Monday, December 16, seeking to delay the implementation of a law that could potentially ban TikTok’s operation in the United States starting next month.
The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Act,” passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Biden, requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from TikTok by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban in the United States.
In Monday’s emergency application, lawyers representing TikTok and ByteDance in Beijing requested the Supreme Court to halt the enforcement of the ban while appealing the decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to uphold the law.
In the request filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, TikTok’s lawyers stated, “Congress enacted a massive, unprecedented restriction on speech. TikTok is an online platform and one of the most popular and important forums for communication in the United States.”
The company’s lawyers argued that having the Supreme Court review the decision of the appeals court serves the “strong public interest.”
On December 9, ByteDance and TikTok had filed an emergency motion with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeking to temporarily block the enforcement of the law signed by Biden regarding TikTok and await review by the Supreme Court. The reasoning presented by TikTok and ByteDance was that the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Act” passed by the U.S. government was unconstitutional and infringed on Americans’ freedom of speech.
On December 13, the appeals court rejected TikTok’s emergency request. The appeals judges stated in a court opinion, “The First Amendment exists to protect America’s freedom of speech. The government action here is solely to protect (America’s) freedom from encroachment by foreign hostile states and to limit the ability of such hostile states to collect data on the American people.”
Subsequently, TikTok announced that they would submit the case to the United States Supreme Court.
By default, the application submitted by TikTok to the Supreme Court on Monday will be presented to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is responsible for handling emergency appeals following the decisions of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Roberts has the option to handle the request individually or submit it to the entire Supreme Court for a vote.
TikTok’s security issues have raised significant concerns in the U.S. Congress and government. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is controlled by the Chinese authorities, which could request access to data from American users. The U.S. Department of Justice has stated that, “China (Chinese government) continues to control the TikTok application, posing a persistent threat to national security.”
TikTok, on the other hand, denies these allegations.