The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has urged the Supreme Court to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay the implementation of the TikTok ban. The DOJ has stated that TikTok has failed to demonstrate a chance of success and that the law should proceed as scheduled. Accordingly, the TikTok ban is likely to go into effect on the 19th, the day before President Trump’s inauguration.
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▲[Korea Today] Photo unrelated to the article. Source=FREEPIK © Reporter Byun A-rong |
The TikTok ban would ban the service if its parent company, China-based ByteDance, does not sell its U.S. operations. The move comes as the U.S. government considers TikTok a national security threat because it allows China to collect data on Americans and use it for propaganda purposes.
On the 27th of last month, President-elect Trump filed a request to the Supreme Court to delay the implementation of the TikTok ban. Trump’s legal team requested a stay of the law, saying that he has the most effective negotiation skills to resolve this issue. TikTok also argued that the law may infringe on freedom of speech, and that the service suspension is inappropriate. TikTok’s legal team emphasized the problems with the implementation of the law, saying, “Shutting down a platform used by 170 million people requires serious judicial review.”
The sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations is a key prerequisite for the law’s implementation. However, negotiations for the sale have not yet begun, and some argue that it would be difficult to separate the U.S. operations due to technical complexity. Experts estimate that TikTok has a less than 30% chance of overturning the original ruling in the Supreme Court hearing, making the service highly likely to be suspended.
The Justice Department says enforcing the TikTok ban is essential to U.S. national security. The DOJ points out that “the Chinese government controls TikTok, allowing it to collect data on Americans and use it for communist propaganda,” and emphasizes that selling it out of Chinese control is key to solving the problem.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to make its final ruling on the constitutionality of the TikTok ban on the 10th. This hearing is expected to be a major watershed moment that will determine whether TikTok can continue to operate in the U.S. If the law is enforced as scheduled, TikTok will have to stop its service in the U.S., which is expected to have a major impact on platform users and businesses.
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