TikTok has officially filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a temporary pause on a new law that threatens to ban the app in the U.S. unless it is divested from its parent company, ByteDance.
In their emergency motion submitted on December 16, TikTok’s legal team invoked the First Amendment, arguing that Congress has enacted a significant and unprecedented restriction on free speech through the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in April 2024.
TikTok stated, “The Supreme Court has a strong track record of upholding Americans’ right to free speech” and is requesting the Court to rigorously scrutinize speech bans, concluding that such actions violate the First Amendment.
With over 170 million monthly users in the United States, TikTok has become a vital platform for communication.
This emergency appeal comes after U.S. lawmakers warned Google and Apple on December 13 to prepare for TikTok’s removal from their app stores by January 19, 2025, unless ByteDance sells the platform by that deadline.
During a recent press conference, President-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for TikTok, claiming it positively influenced his appeal to younger voters in the recent election.
The latest developments in the ongoing conflict between U.S. lawmakers and TikTok follow the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision on December 6 to reject TikTok’s legal challenge against the law.
On December 9, TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency motion with the Appeals Court requesting a temporary injunction to postpone the law. The U.S. Justice Department advised the court to deny this motion, which the Appeals Court did on December 13, prompting TikTok to seek relief from the Supreme Court.
TikTok’s latest emergency motion to the Supreme Court emphasizes that the app “is one of the Nation’s most popular and essential platforms for communication.” It further states that the app is “provided in [the U.S.]” by TikTok Inc., an American company that is indirectly owned by ByteDance Ltd., a Cayman Islands holding company primarily controlled by institutional investors.
In their filing, TikTok’s lawyers argue that since TikTok Inc. “is a U.S. company exercising editorial discretion over a U.S. speech platform, the First Amendment fully protects it from Congress’s efforts to ban its operation based on alleged foreign influence.”
The filing continues: “Strict scrutiny applies here just as it would if Congress banned a specific American citizen from operating a particular American newspaper merely due to concerns about foreign control over what is published or misuse of subscriber data.”
The deadline for TikTok to divest from ByteDance or face a ban in the U.S. market is set for January 19, just before the Presidential inauguration on January 20.
TikTok’s filing asserts that “an interim injunction is also appropriate as it allows the incoming Administration time to determine its position, especially since the President-elect and his advisors have indicated support for saving TikTok.”
Additionally, TikTok argues that “a modest delay in enforcing the Act will provide the Supreme Court with adequate time for an orderly review and for the new Administration to assess this critical matter, ensuring this vital communication channel for Americans remains open.”
