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| US President-elect Donald Trump | Photo: Reuters |
US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to pause a law banning the popular social media platform TikTok in the country.
Under the law, TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, must be sold to a US company in the United States by January 19 or the app will be shut down in the country. Trump's argument behind requesting the law to be suspended now is that he should be given time to reach a "political solution" on the issue after taking office in the White House on January 20.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on January 10 after Trump made the request. The US Congress voted in favor of a bill in April that would have required TikTok to be sold or shut down within a specified period of time. A US appeals court later issued a similar order.
Earlier on March 11, Trump (then a US presidential candidate) said that TikTok was a threat to national security. However, he also said that banning the app would harm some children. And this would only strengthen the position of the social media platform Facebook, which is owned by Meta. Republicans criticized Trump's last statement.
In 2020, Trump attempted to ban TikTok and another Chinese-owned social media platform, WeChat. However, he was unsuccessful due to court obstacles. Trump's current position on TikTok is the exact opposite of his previous position.
TikTok has over 170 million users in the United States, making it an important digital medium in that country.
TikTok's owner has urged the administration of current President Joe Biden to lift the law. But if the court does not rule in their favor at a hearing next month, the app will literally be banned in the United States from January 19, the day before Trump takes office.
Trump's chief lawyer, John Sauer, said, "President Trump is not taking a position on the merits of this dispute (banning TikTok). Instead, he is asking the court to consider staying the January 19, 2025, deadline for banning TikTok. If this is considered, a future Trump administration will have the opportunity to resolve the issue politically."
Earlier in December, TikTok CEO Zhou Zhi met with Donald Trump. Hours earlier, Trump had said he was "a bit interested" in TikTok and wanted the app to stay active in the United States for at least a few more days. He also said he had received "millions of views" on the social media app during his presidential campaign.
When asked for comment from TikTok authorities on the overall issue, they did not immediately respond.
Incidentally, TikTok offers short videos. However, sometimes irrelevant videos are also posted. And they are quite popular with the young population. The ones who are most in danger are the advertisers. Many advertisers have moved away from them and are advertising on TikTok.
The US Congress fears that TikTok's Chinese owners are using the social media platform to collect data on US consumers, although the Chinese owners have denied these concerns.
Chris Bucket, who makes men's lifestyle videos on TikTok, has 1.3 million followers. He recently said he doesn't think the platform will survive. "I don't think the app has much life left in the US," he said. He told his followers to follow him on Instagram, YouTube, X, and Threads.