Getty ImagesTikTok has asked the court for an emergency injunction to prevent it from being available in the US next month.
The US government passed a law requiring the sale or ban of the app. That’s because it has links to the Chinese state — links TikTok and its parent company ByteDance deny.
The social media company lost its appeal against the law. In a decision on Friday – and said it would then appeal to the Supreme Court.
TikTok and ByteDance have now filed a legal petition to temporarily stay the law to give the Supreme Court more time to consider the matter.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has called for the petition to be dismissed, saying its core arguments have already been “conclusively rejected”.
TikTok and ByteDance say the injunction is also justified because Donald Trump is set to replace Joe Biden as president.
Trump has previously indicated he would repeal the law.
ByteDance and TikTok said in their emergency legal filings, “The public interest supports the Supreme Court conducting an orderly review process, and providing sufficient time for the incoming administration to review this extraordinarily important case.” “
He added that even a temporary ban from early 2025 would have a “catastrophic impact” on its operations.
The filing added that it would “silence the petitioners and cause irreparable injury to the 170 million Americans who use the platform every month”.
The company also said that the temporary ban would also result in loss of revenue as well as customers and Creators who create content for the platform..
On Friday, the justices rejected the idea that the law was unconstitutional — saying it was the result of “extensive, bipartisan action” by lawmakers.
He further concluded that the law was “carefully drafted to deal only with foreign adversary control, and is a broad national security threat posed by the PRC (People’s Republic of China).” It was part of the effort.”
According to the wording of the law, President Joe Biden has given his seal of approval. in April as part of a wider foreign aid packageTikTok will stop being available to US citizens unless its parent company ByteDance sells within nine months.
The deadline will effectively ban TikTok in the US from January 19, 2025.
On Monday Application for emergency injunctionTikTok’s lawyers argued that the law would cause “extreme and irreparable harm” to the company — adding that it would do so “on the eve of the presidential inauguration.”
President-elect Donald Trump will take office as the nation’s 47th president on January 20.
He has previously claimed that he will “save TikTok” from the ban.
Trump said before the November election The law would benefit Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram..
But experts caution that while his promises may offer a lifeline to the company’s U.S. future, they are no guarantee of what he will do once in office.
DOJ officials said in their letter Also filed on Monday That the Appellate Court dismiss the application for injunction.
“The Court is cognizant of the relevant facts and law and has categorically rejected the petitioners’ constitutional claims in a sweeping judgment recognizing the vital national security interests under the Act”.