TikTok Cautions Supreme Court: Ban Could Set Risky Precedent for U.S. Businesses.
The attorney representing TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, issued a caution during the Supreme Court proceedings regarding a law that would mandate the sale of the short-video application or impose a ban in the United States. The attorney emphasized that if Congress could impose such measures on TikTok, it could similarly target other corporations in the future.
The law, which was debated before the nine justices on Friday, establishes a deadline of January 19 for ByteDance to divest from the widely-used social media platform or face a prohibition based on national security concerns. The companies have requested, at a minimum, a postponement of the law's enforcement, arguing that it infringes upon the First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, which protects against governmental restrictions on free speech. Noel Francisco, who represents TikTok and ByteDance, contended that the Supreme Court's approval of this legislation could pave the way for similar laws aimed at other companies.
“AMC movie theatres used to be owned by a Chinese company. Under this theory, Congress could order AMC movie theatres to censor any movies that Congress doesn’t like or promote any movies that Congress wanted,” Francisco told the justices.
Democratic President Joe Biden enacted the legislation, and his administration is currently defending it in this legal matter. The divestiture deadline coincides with the day before Republican Donald Trump, who opposes the ban, is set to assume office as Biden's successor.
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Should the ban be implemented on January 19, Apple and Alphabet’s Google would be prohibited from offering TikTok for download to new users, although existing users would still retain access to the application. Both the U.S. government and TikTok acknowledge that the app would deteriorate and ultimately become nonfunctional over time, as companies would be unable to provide necessary supporting services.
