Free speech advocates gather outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on March 18, 2024 for the ‘rally to reclaim free speech’ hosted by Children’s Health Defense (Photo by Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto via AP).
TikTok filed an emergency appeal Monday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a law passed by Congress and signed into effect by President Joe Biden that would require it to split from its Chinese parent company or face a national ban — saying the act would “shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration.”
“This, in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern,” wrote TikTok’s lawyers in a Dec. 16 filing viewed by Law&Crime. “This Court should grant an injunction pending further review.”
The social media app has called on the country’s highest court to act by Jan. 6 or watch as the public suffers “immediate” and “irreparable” injury. It’s estimated that over 121 million Americans use TikTok.
“Congress has no legitimate interest in interfering with the U.S. ownership of an expressive platform to alter its content — whether or not Congress deems some such content foreign propaganda,” the filing states.
The law in question, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was passed as a measure by Congress in April and then signed into law by Biden that same month.
It was given a Jan. 19 divest-or-ban deadline.
