President-elect asked Supreme Court to postpone TikTok ban to allow for ‘political solution’; Legislation would force Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest the video app by Jan. 19 or be restricted in the U.S.
Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to delay the legislative deadline that would force the sale or ban of TikTok, allowing for a “political resolution” when he assumes the presidency next month.
Under a law passed by Congress in April, Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, must divest from the app by January 19, 2025 — the day before Trump’s inauguration — or face a nationwide ban.
The legislation was prompted by warnings from US officials about national security risks, in part because ByteDance could be required under Chinese law to share personal information about the 170 million Americans who use the app with Beijing.
However, Trump asked the Supreme Court to suspend the deadline while it considers the merits of the case, allowing his future administration to seek “a political resolution of the issues in dispute in the case,” according to a document filed Friday.
During his re-election campaign, Trump said he was against banning TikTok and promised to “save” the app.
These efforts represent a change from 2020, when then-president Trump issued an executive order to block the app in the US and gave ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of its US assets and any data collected by TikTok in the country. That order was blocked by the courts and later revoked by President Joe Biden, who later signed into law the central law in the current case.
The document stated: “Only President Trump possesses the unparalleled negotiating experience, electoral mandate, and political will necessary to negotiate a solution that saves the app while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Administration — concerns that President Trump himself has acknowledged. .”
The text also added that Trump “takes no position on the fundamental merits of this dispute.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The request puts Trump, who as president would have no authority over the Supreme Court, at the center of complex legal proceedings that will decide the fate of the popular app in the US.
The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for the case on January 10.
The document was filed following the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to accept TikTok’s appeal against a lower court ruling that rejected its challenge to the law, as well as its subsequent request to suspend the measure while legal proceedings continue. .
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit earlier this month upheld the law, rejecting TikTok’s claim that it was unconstitutional and violated First Amendment protections of free speech.
With information from the Financial Times*
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/12/28/donald-trump-busca-tempo-para-salvar-o-tiktok/
