TikTok asks Supreme Court to temporarily halt a law that would ban the app in the U.S.

TikTok has filed for an exigency reprieve with the U.S. Supreme Court to bargain much clip earlier a nationwide prohibition connected the societal media app is acceptable to spell into effect adjacent month.

“This Court should assistance an injunction pending further review,” TikTok and its Chinese genitor company, ByteDance, said successful Monday’s filing for a impermanent injunction. A ban, they said, would “shutter 1 of America’s astir fashionable code platforms the time earlier a statesmanlike inauguration.”

The destiny of TikTok successful the U.S. has been up successful the aerial since 2020, erstwhile then-President Trump moved to unopen down the short-form video app due to the fact that of nationalist information concerns.

That acceptable disconnected 4 years of back-and-forth betwixt TikTok and the U.S. government. In April, President Biden signed a instrumentality that required ByteDance to merchantability TikTok to a non-Chinese entity; TikTok responded by suing the U.S. government successful May.

The institution this period lost a large tribunal battle successful its efforts to stay progressive successful the U.S., mounting up a imaginable showdown successful the Supreme Court.

As things basal now, TikTok is scheduled to beryllium banned successful the U.S. connected Jan. 19 if the tech institution does not divest earlier then.

The determination would effect successful “a monolithic and unprecedented censorship,” TikTok said. “Estimates amusement that tiny businesses connected TikTok would suffer much than $1 cardinal successful gross and creators would endure astir $300 cardinal successful mislaid net successful conscionable 1 period unless the prohibition is halted.”

More than 170 cardinal Americans usage the video app, connected which radical stock creation routines, quality stories, recipes and funny videos.

“The Supreme Court has an established grounds of upholding Americans’ close to escaped speech,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said successful a statement. “Today, TikTok is asking the Court to bash what it has traditionally done successful escaped code cases: use the astir rigorous scrutiny to code bans and reason that it violates the 1st Amendment.”

Although helium pushed for a prohibition during his archetypal term, Trump reversed course portion campaigning this year.

“For each of those that privation to prevention TikTok successful America, ballot for Trump,” helium said successful a video posted connected Truth Social successful September. “The different side’s closing it up.”