Two weeks before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the future of TikTok, President-elect Donald Trump has asked the justices to delay the deadline for selling the app to a new owner until January 19 or face a ban the USA

An amicus brief filed by Trump’s nominee for attorney general, John Sauer, asks the court to grant a stay that would extend the deadline for the new president to work out a “negotiated solution” that would save the app .

The filing portrays Trump as someone who “solely has the extensive negotiating expertise, electoral mandate and political will to negotiate a solution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns raised by the administration.”

Trump’s brief says he “opposes a ban on TikTok in the United States at this time” but does not argue that the law requiring the sale violates the First Amendment and says he does not Position on the matter.

Instead, Sauer’s motion asks the court to pause the deadline so Trump’s new administration can “pursue a negotiated solution that could prevent a nationwide shutdown of TikTok and thereby preserve the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans.” government national security concerns.”

TikTok, which has over 170 million U.S. users, has sued over the law, which requires it to be sold by its current Chinese owner ByteDance by Jan. 19 or be banned in the U.S

A federal appeals court earlier this month rejected the company’s request for an urgent reprieve.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on January 10.

President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on April 24, part of a massive $95 billion foreign aid package passed by Congress.

Biden and some congressional leaders argued that the ultimatum against TikTok was necessary because of security concerns about ByteDance and its ties to the Chinese government.

Trump originally tried to ban TikTok in his first term, but has since changed course and vowed to “save” the app during the 2024 presidential campaign.

In Trump’s amicus brief, Sauer raised the idea of ​​social media censorship, citing Brazil’s recent month-long ban on the social media platform. The justices pause.

“This court should be deeply concerned with setting a precedent that could pave the way for global government censorship of speech on social media,” Sauer wrote in the filing. “At a minimum, a Western government’s power to ban an entire social media platform with more than 100 million users should be considered and exercised with the utmost care – and not reviewed on a ‘very expedited basis’.”

While Sauer acknowledged that TikTok could pose a risk to national security as long as it remains under ByteDance’s control, he also urged judges to be skeptical of national security officials who, he said, “through a series of actions.” of measures have repeatedly enforced the censorship of unfavorable content and viewpoints on social media. “Combination of pressure, coercion and deception.”

“There is a jarring parallel between the D.C. Circuit’s near-full deference to national security officials calling for social media censorship and the recent, well-documented history of the extensive involvement of federal officials in social media censorship efforts the speech is directed by tens of millions of Americans,” Sauer wrote.