The law, which is now contested in the Supreme Court by the Chinese parent company Bytedance, has given the Tiktok owner an ultimatum: Sell to an American company or be forced to leave the American market, American media reports.
The company has until January 19 to find a new owner – the day before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
The case is due before the Supreme Court on January 10, but Donald Trump now wants to postpone the deadline. He wants to be given the “opportunity to seek a political solution” without having to take the law to court, according to court documents.
Links to China
The US has accused the social media platform of being linked to the Chinese state and of being a threat to national security, something the company has denied. Bytedance has also claimed that the ban threatens American freedom of speech.
In the court documents, Trump states that the case represents “an unprecedented, new and difficult tension between free speech on the one hand, and foreign policy and national security interests on the other.”