US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to delay an upcoming TikTok ban while he works on a "political resolution". H

Trump urges US Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban

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2024-12-29 00:00:11

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to delay an upcoming TikTok ban while he works on a "political resolution".

His lawyer filed a legal brief on Friday with the court that says Trump "opposes banning TikTok" and "seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office".

On 10 January, the court is due to hear arguments on a US law that requires TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the social media company to an American firm or face a ban come 19 January - a day before Trump takes office.

Those allegations of an app that has 170 million users in the US led Congress to pass a bill in April, which President Joe Biden signed into law, that included the divest or ban requirement.

TikTok and ByteDance have filed multiple legal challenges against the law, arguing that it threatens American free speech protections, with little success. With no potential buyer materialising so far, the companies' final chance to derail the ban has been via the American high court.