US lawmakers urge Biden to extend TikTok Jan 19 ban deadline

WASHINGTON – Two Democratic lawmakers on Jan 13 urged Congress and President Joe Biden to extend a Jan 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to sell the US assets of TikTok or face a US ban.

The Supreme Court held arguments on Jan 10 on TikTok and ByteDance’s challenge to the law.

Mr Noel Francisco, a lawyer for the companies, said it would be impossible to complete a sale by next week’s deadline.

He said if banned, the short video app used by 170 million Americans would quickly go dark and “essentially the platform shuts down”.

Mr Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if he certifies ByteDance is making substantial progress towards a divestiture, but it is unlikely ByteDance could meet that standard.

Senator Edward Markey said he planned to introduce legislation to delay the deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days.

“A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process,” Mr Markey said on Jan 13.

“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.”

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the court to delay implementation of the law, arguing he should have time after taking office on Jan 20 to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.

Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, on Jan 13 urged Mr Biden and Trump “to put a pause on this ban, so 170 million Americans don’t lose their free speech. Millions of Americans’ livelihood will be ended if this ban takes place”.

If the court does not block the law by Jan 19, new downloads of TikTok on Apple or Google app stores would be banned, but existing users could continue to access the app for some period.

Services would degrade and eventually stop working, as companies will be barred from providing support.

The White House did not immediately comment. REUTERS