While President-Elect Donald Trump continues to defend TikTok and its right to exist in the United States, TikTok seeks support from the Supreme Court.
TikTok has asked the court to block the federal law that forces the company to either sell to an American organization or be banned. The law was previously upheld by a U.S. court of appeals in D.C.
The appeals court cited national security concerns cited by members of Congress. These concerns however, seem to be moot. Donald Trump had these same concerns while he was in office, supporting a ban himself. Trump however had U.S. TikTok servers moved to Texas, a move that satisfied him.
The ban would take place on January 19th, which is exactly one day before Donald Trump takes office as the head executive of the federal government. The President-Elect said “we’ll take a look at TikTok” when asked about the ban, and expressed that he’s always had a soft spot for TikTok. "You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for Tiktok,” he said.
Trump went as far as to say that some people believe that his massive victory, specifically with young people was at least partly due to the app to be banned.
Tiktok claims they are defending the free speech of over 170 million Americans. This sentiment is found rich among TikTok users who point out the app’s brazen political censorship, especially against conservatives. TikTok itself banned Donald J Trump before he ever had an account on the platform. In an ironic twist, Trump is now the app’s only hope.
