TikTok asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block a US ban unless it’s sold
Associated PressWASHINGTON — TikTok on Monday asked the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform in the United States unless its China-based parent company agreed to sell it. A similar plea was filed by content creators who rely on the platform for income and some of TikTok’s more than 170 million users in the U.S. “A modest delay in enforcing the Act will create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review and the new Administration to evaluate this matter — before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed,” lawyers for the companies told the Supreme Court. The case could attract the court’s interest because it pits free speech rights against the government’s stated aims of protecting national security, while raising novel issues about social media platforms. With that last prospect in mind, the companies’ lawyers asked for a ruling on their emergency request by Jan. 6 because they’d need the time “to coordinate with their service providers to perform the complex task of shutting down the TikTok platform only in the United States.” The case has made a relatively quick trip through the courts once bipartisan majorities in Congress approved the law and President Joe Biden signed it in April.