Trump administration completes prisoner swap with Venezuela, frees 10 Americans
The Trump administration has completed a controversial prisoner swap with Venezuela, returning around 250 deported Venezuelans in exchange for 10 Amer...
President-elect Donald Trump has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to pause implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale, arguing he should have time after taking office to pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.
The court is set to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 10.
The law would require TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban. The U.S. Congress voted in April to ban it unless ByteDance sells the app by Jan. 19.
TikTok, which has over 170 million U.S. users, and its parent have sought to have the law struck down. But if the court does not rule in their favor and no divestment occurs, the app could be effectively banned in the United States on Jan. 19, one day before Trump takes office.
Trump's support for TikTok is a reversal from 2020, when he tried to block the app in the United States and force its sale to American companies because of its Chinese ownership.
It also shows the significant effort by the company to forge inroads with Trump and his team during the presidential campaign.
"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute," said D. John Sauer, Trump's lawyer who is also the president-elect's pick for U.S. solicitor general.
"Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump's incoming administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case," he added.
Trump previously met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in December, hours after the president-elect expressed he had a "warm spot" for the app and that he favored allowing TikTok to keep operating in the United States for at least a little while.
The president-elect also said he had received billions of views on the social media platform during his presidential campaign.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has previously said the Justice Department has misstated its ties to China, arguing its content recommendation engine and user data are stored in the United States on cloud servers operated by Oracle Corp (ORCL.N), opens new tab while content moderation decisions that affect U.S. users are made in the United States as well.
Free speech advocates separately told the Supreme Court on Friday the U.S. law against TikTok evokes the censorship regimes put in place by the United States' authoritarian enemies.
The U.S. Justice Department has argued Chinese control of TikTok poses a continuing threat to national security, a position supported by most U.S. lawmakers.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 22 attorneys general on Friday in filing an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to uphold the national TikTok divest-or-ban legislation.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will send an upgraded ‘version 3.0’ free-trade agreement to their heads of government for approval in October, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday after regional talks in Kuala Lumpur.
Germany's export slump since 2021 is largely driven by deep-rooted competitiveness issues, the Bundesbank warned in its latest report, calling for urgent structural reforms.
Israeli researchers have unveiled an artificial intelligence tool that can determine a person’s true biological age from tiny DNA samples with remarkable precision.
Two Harry Potter actresses, Emma Watson and Zoe Wanamaker, have each received a six-month driving ban after separate speeding offences, both sentenced on the same day at a Buckinghamshire court.
North Korea has stopped foreign tourists from visiting its new Wonsan-Kalma resort just weeks after it welcomed the first Russian visitors.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in the U.S., though the company has not confirmed the claim.
The Trump administration has completed a controversial prisoner swap with Venezuela, returning around 250 deported Venezuelans in exchange for 10 American detainees.
Congo and the M23 rebel group have agreed on a declaration of principles after months of Qatar-mediated talks, aiming to end fighting in the country’s east.
German authorities have arrested a Libyan man accused of overseeing torture and sexual abuse at a notorious prison in Tripoli, the International Criminal Court said on Friday.
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