Washington Washington. Lawyers for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance warned during debate at the Supreme Court over a law that would force the sale of the short-video app or ban it in the United States: “If Congress could do that to TikTok… , then it can take action against other companies also. The law, which was the subject of debate before nine judges on Friday, sets a January 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform or face a ban on national security grounds. The companies have sought, at a minimum, to delay implementation of the law, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abuses of free speech.
Noel Francisco, representing TikTok and ByteDance, argued that the Supreme Court's endorsement of the law could enable laws targeting other companies on a similar basis. Francisco told the judges, “AMC movie theaters were previously owned by a Chinese company. Under this theory, Congress could order AMC movie theaters to censor movies that Congress doesn't like or promote movies that Can give whatever Congress wants.” The justices indicated through their questions during arguments that they were inclined to uphold the law, although some expressed serious concerns about its First Amendment implications. TikTok is a platform used by approximately 170 million people in the United States, almost half the country's population. Congress passed the measure last year with overwhelming bipartisan support, as lawmakers cited the risks of exploiting TikTok to spy on Americans and conduct covert influence operations.
Jeffrey Fischer, an attorney representing TikTok content creators who have challenged the law, noted during Supreme Court arguments that Congress was focusing on TikTok with the measure, not major Chinese online retailers, including Temu. But. Fischer asked, “Should Congress (which is genuinely concerned about these very dramatic risks) leave an e-commerce site like Temu that is used by 70 million Americans?” “It is very strange why you singled out TikTok and not other companies, when the data of millions of people has been taken in the process of connecting to those websites and is just as much, if not more, under Chinese control ” Democratic President Joe Biden signed the measure into law and his administration is defending it in the case. The divestment deadline comes just a day before Republican Donald Trump, who opposes the ban, is set to take office as Biden's successor.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger defended the legislation, arguing on behalf of the Biden administration that it was important that it take effect as scheduled on January 19 so that ByteDance could be forced to take action on the divestiture.
“Foreign adversaries do not willingly give up their control over this mass communications channel in the United States,” Preloger said. “When the pressure increases and these sanctions go into effect, I think it will fundamentally change the landscape with respect to the idea of ByteDance,” Preloger said. “And it may be just the blow that Congress was hoping to deliver to the company.” “There will actually be a need to move ahead with the disinvestment process.” If the ban takes effect on January 19, Apple and Alphabet's Google will no longer be able to offer TikTok downloads to new users, but existing users can still use the app. The US government and TikTok agree that the app will deteriorate over time and eventually become unusable because the companies will not be able to provide support services.
Comments are closed.