Trump asks for pause on TikTok ban in the United States

As reported by Reuters, President-elect Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold off on the TikTok ban. If implemented, it would force the social media platform to either cease operation in the country or force its sale.

Trump has argued that he needs time to pursue a political resolution for the issue. The court will proceed to hear more arguments about the issue on January 10, 2025.

In a previous article, we covered that the law requires parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company. The U.S. Congress had moved to ban it in April unless ByteDance sold the platform by January 19, 2025.

With over 170 million users on American soil, ByteDance has sought to have the TikTok ban struck down. However, if the court doesn’t rule in their favor, it could be effectively banned on the 19th. Notably, this is one day before Trump takes office in the United States.

This is also an odd show of support from Trump. In 2020, he tried to move for the app to be blocked in the United States because of Chinese ownership. Reuters has noted that ByteDance showed effort to build relations with Trump and his team during his presidential campaign.

Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew this month, hours after he expressed having a warm spot for the app. He also said he was in favor of having TikTok continuing operations in the country, at least for a little while.

In response, the U.S. Justice Department argued Chinese control of TikTok poses a continuing threat to national security. This was supported by most U.S. lawmakers as well.

We’ll update readers on the situation as this is a developing story.