TikTok has sought urgent intervention from the Supreme Court to mitigate a federal law that would necessitate the selling of the popular platform in the U.S. unless its China-based parent company agrees to divest.
The company and ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, filed an emergency plea to prevent the law from taking effect by its Jan. 19 deadline. Content creators and the platform’s 170 million U.S. users similarly joined in seeking temporary relief.
The big picture: The potential implementation of the law could have detrimental effects, including a significant loss of daily users and advertising revenue for TikTok, heightening the financial stakes of the impending ban.
- The legal battle between TikTok and the U.S. government presents a clash between free speech rights and national security concerns, particularly in the context of social media platforms like TikTok which have amassed enormous user bases.
- The emergency plea was directed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees such appeals from the nation’s capital, and it is expected that input will be sought from all nine justices following the requests for intervention by TikTok and ByteDance.
Driving the news: A federal appeals court had denied an initial emergency appeal to block the law, subsequently allowing the case to be elevated to the Supreme Court for consideration.
What we’re watching: The looming Jan. 19 deadline would expose app stores and internet hosting services that support TikTok to potential fines if the law goes into effect, with potential enforcement and sanctions investigations to be conducted by the Justice Department.
- Considering the potential consequences of the law’s enforcement, the Supreme Court may opt to temporarily halt the law to thoroughly deliberate on First Amendment and other relevant issues. Alternatively, they could reject the emergency appeal, allowing the law to proceed as planned.
- The urgency of the situation prompted the companies’ legal representatives to request a ruling on their emergency plea by Jan. 6, in preparation for potential actions to shutter TikTok services exclusively within the U.S. if the plea is denied.
