“The court ruled that the law does not violate the right to free speech”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The court ruled that the law did not violate free speech rights and that the US government had demonstrated legitimate national security concerns about ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the app.
Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments from ByteDance that the law should be stopped because it infringes on free speech.
Earlier, on Friday, it became known that US President Joe Biden, who is ending his term in office, will not introduce measures to block the TikTok network in the country. The Biden administration decided to pass the decision on this to the future administration of Donald Trump.
The US Congress approved a bill to block TikTok in April 2024 due to a possible threat to national security. It was signed by Joe Biden the same month. The company ByteDance, which owns the service, gave 270 days to sell to the American owner. This term ends on January 19, i.e. the day before the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on January 16 that the law blocking TikTok “allows” an extension of the service’s sale period until a deal is reached.
U.S. authorities fear that TikTok may transfer data about American users to China. Under China’s 2014 Counterintelligence Law, companies cannot refuse to collect data necessary for an investigation. In addition, the national intelligence law passed in 2017 obliges local companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies. At the same time, TikTok, like ByteDance, is legally registered in the Cayman Islands, and its central offices are located in Singapore and Los Angeles.
According to Bloomberg, the Chinese authorities are considering the option of transferring the management of TikTok in the United States to Elon Musk in order to get it out of the ban. In TikTok, the possibility of selling Musk’s social network is categorically rejected.
The Washington Post wrote that Trump is considering issuing an executive order that would suspend the implementation of the law to block TikTok for two to three months.