Trump Urges U.S. Supreme Court to "Suspend TikTok Ban" | WPN World People News

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump recently urged the Supreme Court to delay the TikTok ban set to take effect next month. In a court filing submitted on the 27th, Trump argued for a postponement to allow the new administration to "pursue a negotiated resolution," a stance at odds with the current Biden administration.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on January 10, deliberating whether the TikTok ban, approved by Congress in April, violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ban requires TikTok's parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell its U.S. subsidiary by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban. Congress and the government claim TikTok collects massive amounts of data from millions of Americans and allege that ByteDance could hand this information over to Chinese intelligence, aiding surveillance against the U.S.

ByteDance has previously stated that selling TikTok is not feasible as it would require approval from the Chinese government, which has already signaled it would refuse. The company asserts that U.S. user data is not stored in China and cannot be transferred there, though its neutrality continues to face widespread skepticism.

Trump's stance on TikTok has evolved. While serving as president in 2020, he signed an executive order to ban the platform, which was later blocked by the courts. However, Trump has since softened his position, partly due to using TikTok to reach younger voters. Earlier this month, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew met Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Hours before the meeting, Trump told reporters, "You know, I’ve always had a fondness for TikTok."

Earlier on the 27th, the Biden administration urged the Supreme Court to uphold the ban, claiming TikTok’s ties to China pose a "grave" threat to the U.S. They argued that China could manipulate TikTok covertly to advance its geopolitical interests and harm U.S. national interests through misinformation. The administration’s position highlights the tension between national security and free speech, as 170 million Americans use TikTok for news and entertainment.

Countries like India, Nepal, and Afghanistan have already banned TikTok. The international version of TikTok is also banned in China. The European Commission and the U.K. government have advised employees not to install the app on work devices. Observers believe that if the U.S. bans TikTok, many of its allies may follow suit.