TikTok asks Supreme Court for emergency injunction

The TikTok ban saga has taken another turn. Parent company ByteDance has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to stop a law that would either ban TikTok in the U.S. or force it to be sold to an American-owned company.

The Supreme Court request comes just weeks before the ban is set to take effect, following a court decision earlier this month that rejected ByteDance’s First Amendment arguments.

​A quick recap of how we got here: The TikTok ban first made headlines in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump vowed to ban the app unless it was sold to a U.S. company. Deadlines came and went with no action, but Congress revived the issue earlier this year.

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance took the U.S. government to court, claiming the ban would violate free speech rights. Despite this argument, judges unanimously ruled against the company, leaving the Supreme Court as TikTok’s last hope.

​ByteDance now argues that without an injunction, TikTok would suffer catastrophic losses, estimating it could lose a third of its U.S. user base if shuttered for just one month. The company insists there’s no immediate national security threat, and delaying enforcement would allow the court to fully consider the legality of the ban.
Interestingly, former President Trump—who first pushed for the ban—appears to have softened his stance. Reports say Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew yesterday. Trump even suggested TikTok may have helped him win the youth vote, though election polls tell a different story.

Trump reportedly expressed “a warm spot” for the app and promised to “take a look” at the situation.

With the ban deadline fast approaching, all eyes are now on the Supreme Court to see if TikTok gets a reprieve. We’ll continue to bring you the latest updates as this story unfolds.

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Image source: https://www.bytedance.com/en/