Lawmakers are calling on Biden to extend the deadline for the TikTok ban in the US

Some lawmakers are calling on President Joe Biden and the U.S. Supreme Court to take action to prevent TikTok from being banned on Sunday under a law they say would come at the expense of the free speech of millions of Americans.

The Supreme Court on Friday heard a challenge to the law by Beijing-based TikTok parent company ByteDance. As it became clear that the court appeared poised to uphold the law that would require ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets by Jan. 19, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., announced he would introduce one Act intends to extend the deadline.

The upcoming legislation, which would effectively lead to a ban on TikTok in the US if ByteDance fails to meet the deadline, comes after President Joe Biden signed a law last spring on national security grounds. But supporters of the popular app, which has 170 million American users, say the law violates free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

If banned, the distribution of TikTok via the Apple App Store and Google Play would be illegal and would endanger the livelihoods of millions of Americans. Content creators who earn revenue from the app and potentially drive users to flock to similar social media apps.

TikTok ban:What is the fate of TikTok? With the ban less than a week away, here’s what we know

Democratic lawmakers call for extension of TikTok ban

The looming ban comes amid concerns from Biden and other US lawmakers that TikTok poses a serious threat to national security and allows China to collect data on Americans or manipulate content people see.

But many lawmakers have been equally vocal in their opposition to the ban, which they say would violate Americans’ free speech rights.

Among them is Markey, who said Monday he plans to introduce legislation to delay by another 270 days the Jan. 19 deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban.

“TikTok creators and users across the country are understandably alarmed. They are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts and the vibrant online communities they have cultivated,” Markey said in a statement. “These communities cannot be replicated on another app. A ban would destroy a unique information and cultural ecosystem while silencing millions of people.”

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Markey has also joined Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. by filing a bipartisan brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s decision upholding a TikTok ban. In the letter, the lawmakers argued that “there are less drastic measures that could effectively address data security issues without violating constitutional rights.”

“A ban on TikTok not only violates the free expression of millions of Americans, but also threatens the livelihoods of creators and small business owners who use the app,” Khanna said in a statement. “We need laws to protect Americans’ data. But banning TikTok is not the solution.”

Could anyone buy TikTok?

Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if he certifies that ByteDance is making significant progress on the divestiture, Reuters reported.

While Reuters said it was unlikely ByteDance could meet that standard, some have expressed interest in buying TikTok.

Project Liberty, an organization led by billionaire Frank McCourt, announced last week that it had made a formal offer to ByteDance to purchase TikTok’s U.S. assets.

McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced last month that Project Liberty had received verbal commitments of up to $20 billion for the purchase. “Shark Tank” host and investor Kevin O’Leary announced last week that he would be joining Project Liberty as part of the purchase plan.

If Project Liberty were to successfully buy TikTok, it would only be the US assets and not the algorithm, which China considers intellectual property.

The Supreme Court is set to make a ruling while Trump argues for a delay

The Supreme Court heard two and a half hours Friday on the question of whether TikTok can be banned in the United States. In the end, the judges appeared ready to allow the U.S. government to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the company or go bankrupt.

However, President-elect Donald Trump has asked the court to push back the deadline to give his administration time to seek a political solution after he takes office on January 20. Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term, has since vowed to “save” it.

What happens if TikTok is banned?

If the TikTok ban comes into force on Sunday, new downloads in app stores such as Apple and Google would no longer be possible.

While existing users would still be able to access and use the app, they will not be able to update the app, which will likely degrade and stop working over time. The TikTok website would also no longer be available on US-based internet hosting services.

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