Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told President Biden on Thursday that if TikTok doesn't divest from its China-based parent company, it faces a ban. requested that a 90-day extension be granted.
They emphasized that the current deadline is set for January 19, the day before the new administration takes office, and that the Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on the case for January 10.
“The stakes here are high.As a practical matter, even if the court rules that this law is constitutional by the January deadline, ByteDance will not be able to sell TikTok within that limited time.” cannot,” the senators wrote.
“Thus, absent a judicial injunction, a decision to overturn the law, or action by you, TikTok will soon be banned in the United States, resulting in severe hardship to its creators and users,” they continued. Ta.
The law gave TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, 270 days to exit the popular video-sharing platform. However, the president can give the company an additional 90 days to complete the sale.
Mr Markey and Mr Paul have previously spoken out against anti-sale laws.
After a federal appeals court upheld the law earlier this month, the senators said in a joint statement that the decision was “unfortunate” and “a grave threat to the constitutional rights of TikTok and its users across the United States.” He said that it represents.
“Congress passed this law with limited discussion about TikTok’s diverse user and creator base and its impact on their rights,” they said. “As public support for the ban wanes, we urge Congress to reconsider the law and will work with our colleagues to do so.”
The law passed Congress in April as part of a large foreign aid package. Markey voted in favor of the package, but Paul did not.
TikTok sued the government in May, claiming the law violates the First Amendment. The platform filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court seeking a stay of the law after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected that challenge this month.
The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear TikTok's case on its merits and schedule oral arguments for early next month. The expedited schedule gives the court the opportunity to issue a decision before the original deadline of January 19th.
The impending ban comes as President-elect Trump is scheduled to take office on January 20th. Trump has expressed support for TikTok, vowing to “save” the app during the campaign, but has yet to provide details of his plans.
Asked Monday if he would block the ban from going into effect next month, the president-elect said, “I will consider it.”
“I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok,” President Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida mansion, adding, “We won young people by 34 points. Some people say it has some meaning.” Please do it with that. ”
