United States President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief on Friday urging the Supreme Court to block a law that would have banned TikTok a day before his inauguration on January 20 if it was banned by its Chinese owner. Not sold by Bite Dance.
“In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the Court should consider staying the statutory deadline to allow more breathing space to resolve these issues,” Trump’s legal team wrote.
Trump strongly opposed TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, unsuccessfully trying to ban the video app on national security grounds.
Republicans have raised concerns — echoed by political rivals — that the Chinese government could tap into US TikTok users’ data or manipulate what they see on the platform.
US officials have also raised alarm over the video-sharing app’s popularity with young people, alleging that its parent company is beholden to Beijing and that the app is used to spread propaganda, targeting the company and the Chinese government. These claims were denied.
Trump called for an American company to buy TikTok, with the government taking part in the sale price, and his successor, Joe Biden, went a step further — signing into law a ban on the app for the same reasons.
However, Trump has now changed course.
At a press conference last week, Trump said he had “a soft spot” for TikTok and that his administration would take a look at the app and a possible ban.
Earlier this month, the president-elect met with TikTok CEO Shu Zhiqiu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Recently, Trump told Bloomberg that he has changed his mind about the app: “Now (that) I think about it, I’m for TikTok, because you need competition. ”
“If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram — and it’s, you know, it’s Zuckerberg.”
Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and part of his metatech empire, was among the social media networks that banned Trump on January 6, 2021, after his supporters attacked the US Capitol. was
The ban was imposed due to concerns that he would use the platform to promote further violence.
Those restrictions on major social media platforms were later lifted.