Summary
- Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) plans to introduce a bill that would give TikTok an extra 270 days before it’s banned.
- TikTok’s attempts to dodge a ban so far have been unsuccessful, leading to its current case in the Supreme Court.
- More time may not save TikTok, but it does provide additional options post-Trump inauguration.
The January 19th deadline for the TikTok ban is fast approaching, but the social video app might have been given a lifeline. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is planning to introduce a bill that could give TikTok extra time.
Specifically, Markey’s “Extend the TikTok Deadline Act” wouldn’t undo the original bill banning the app entirely, just give TikTok an extra 270 days to comply with its demands and divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. Given TikTok’s dwindling number of options, if it’s unable to sway the Supreme Court, this is the best hope the app really has.
“Let me be clear: TikTok has its problems. Like every social media platform, TikTok poses a serious risk to the privacy and mental health of our young people,” Senator Markey said in his remarks announcing the new bill. “But a TikTok ban would impose serious consequences on millions of Americans who depend on the app for social connections and their economic livelihood. We cannot allow that to happen.” For context, Markey did vote for the ban last April.
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The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about the TikTok ban in January.
TikTok’s attempts to dodge a ban have been unsuccessful so far
Its Supreme Court case is also still awaiting a ruling
Solen-feyissa / Unsplash
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act signed into law in April 2024 requires ByteDance to sell TikTok by January 19, 2025. Rather than comply with the bill, TikTok first attempted to appeal it, and failed. It then tried to file an injunction to pause the ban, which wasn’t approved. Finally, it brought its case to the Supreme Court, which heard the company’s legal arguments against the ban on Jan 10. TikTok’s argument largely rests on the idea that the ban bill violates its First Amendment rights as an American company, something some Justices on the court seemed skeptical of, according to SCOTUSBlog.
A bill that gives TikTok more time wouldn’t necessarily save the company, but it does give it more options once President-elect Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025. During his first term, Trump was a major supporter of a TikTok ban, but his tune has changed heading into his second term. He’s called for the Supreme Court to rule in TikTok’s favor, and he could try and overturn the ban once he’s in office, either by asking Congress to repeal the bill that put the ban in place or by pushing the US Justice Department to not enforce the ban and fine US app stores for letting TikTok be downloaded.
The story could be very different if the Supreme Court rules in TikTok’s favor, but until that happens (which increasingly seems unlikely), more time to wiggle out of the ban isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just requires the rest of Congress to agree with Senator Markey.
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