TikTok makes emergency appeal to US Supreme Court to halt divest-or-ban law, pending review

Highest US court is asked to review lower court’s ruling as Donald Trump praises popular video app for helping him connect with young voters

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TikTok has filed an emergency appeal with the US Supreme Court for a temporary halt to a law that would force its owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban in the US. Image: Shutterstock

Published: 4:30am, 17 Dec 2024Updated: 7:10am, 17 Dec 2024

TikTok petitioned the US Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily halt a lower court’s decision upholding a law mandating a nationwide ban of the popular Chinese-owned video app if it fails to secure a non-Chinese buyer by mid-January, pending a request for a full review.

Also on Monday, during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US president-elect Donald Trump praised TikTok for helping him connect with young voters. His comments were reportedly followed by a meeting with the company’s US chief executive, Shou Zi Chew. TikTok did not immediately confirm the meeting.

“Speech restrictions have survived the Constitution’s most demanding standard only in rare and narrow circumstances,” the filing argued.

The ban, which is to take effect on January 19, 2025, would prevent TikTok from operating in the US unless it is sold to a non-Chinese business.

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“Before all that happens, there is a strong public interest that this court have the opportunity to exercise plenary review,” the filing said, contending that the case “raises novel constitutional questions of profound significance for the entire nation”.