Donald Trump on Friday asked the US Supreme Court to suspend a law that threatens to ban social networking site TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company does not sell it.

In a written letter sent by Donald Trump's lawyers to the Supreme Court, the president-elect says he opposes the measure “for now” and wants it resolved when he returns to the White House on January 20, one day after the ban goes into effect.

“President Trump is not taking a position on the substance of the dispute,” they argue.
“Instead, it urges the court to suspend the effective date of the measure so that the incoming administration can pursue a negotiated settlement that prevents the nationwide closure of TikTok,’ the letter added.

In April, Congress had overwhelmingly approved a law requiring TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US operations before 19 January, or the app would be banned.
It aims to prevent risks of espionage and manipulation by the Chinese authorities of the users of TikTok, which claims to have 170 million users in the US.
TikTok, which has repeatedly denied passing information to the Chinese government, then appealed to the Supreme Court, where the majority of judges are conservative. The court agreed in mid-December to consider on 10 January the request to examine the constitutionality of this law.

Donald Trump recently met with TikTok's CEO, Su Zhi Chu, at his Florida residence, and has expressed his support on the social networking site many times.

Although initially opposed to the app, the future president now believes it has allowed him to reach a younger audience and recently said he has a “soft spot” for the medium.

“President Trump is the only one who has the expertise to make deals, the ballot mandate, and the political will to negotiate a solution to save the platform while responding to the national security concerns the state has expressed,” the letter from his lawyers said.
In their appeal, TikTok and ByteDance state that “Congress has authorized a massive and unprecedented restriction on free speech.” They also note that the law is expected to take effect on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration.

As the future president's lawyers state in their letter: “This unfortunate timing impedes President Trump's ability to manage United States foreign policy and pursue a solution that protects national security while ensuring a social media platform that provides a service popular with 170 million Americans can exercise its fundamental rights under the First Amendment” of the Constitution with respect to freedom of expression.

Donald Trump had, however, tried to ban TikTok in the summer of 2020, during his first term in the White House, with executive orders that did not work.

He has since reconsidered, calling on voters who are connected to TikTok to vote for him. The Republican president-elect sees TikTok as an alternative to Facebook and Instagram, the two Meta platforms he temporarily blocked after his supporters attacked him on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.

In a separate letter, also included in the Supreme Court file, a coalition of organizations - including the powerful ACLU for the defense of civil rights - says it opposes the law, which blocks the freedom of expression of the app's users.

“Such a ban is unprecedented in our country and, if enacted, would cause a disruption with serious consequences for Americans” ability to interact with the content and audiences of their online choices," they write.

One of the solutions that have been mentioned in case the law remains as it is is for ByteDance to sell parts of its business to non-Chinese investors, a possibility that the company has consistently rejected.

All the more so as the buyback of the US operations with 170 million users would be very expensive.