TikTok has appealed to the Supreme Court to stop a ban on the app on U.S. phones and browsers.
Legislation passed by Congress and President Biden last year would make TikTok illegal in the U.S. It was past on the premise that China can use it to spy on Americans, even though lawmakers never proved this as a real threat. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act calls TikTok a “significant threat to national security” but ByteDance is arguing that this is a Trojan Horse of government control and unconstitutional under the First Amendment right to free speech.
TikTok lost its first appeal to this law by a vote by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last week.
TikTok and its Chinese parent company are asking the United States government to take a closer look at legislation that could ban the social media platform in the states.
On Monday, TikTok and parent company ByteDance filed an emergency injunction, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review legislation that would ban the social media app if ByteDance does not sell the platform by Jan. 19, 2025. The injunction follows a vote by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday that supported the legislation.
Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed by President Joe Biden this spring, TikTok will become illegal for distribution in the U.S., if ByteDance does not sell the platform. The app will be illegal for distribution through the Apple App Store and Google Play and internet service providers will be required to make the app inaccessible on U.S. internet browsers.
This isn’t about whether or not you like TikTok. It is about what the U.S. government can and cannot ban and censor. The law gives lawmakers the ability to ban any “website” they don’t like. Pray that the Supreme Court saves us from it.
