• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, December 24, 2024

An organization founded by former vice president Mike Pence is asking the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a law that will ban TikTok in the U.S. unless the company separates from China-based parent company ByteDance.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday, Advancing American Freedom and a coalition of other TikTok critics argue that the law is necessary to prevent the Chinese government from manipulating public opinion.

“If a quarter of Americans are getting news from TikTok, what that platform chooses to show, and how it chooses to show it, has the potential to massively impact how Americans think about the world,” the organizations argue.

Among other arguments, they groups say China could use TikTok to influence elections in the U.S., adding that the European Union is currently investigating TikTok's possible role in Romania's recent presidential election.

“It is well-known that China's government exploits Chinese companies to access Americans' data, including for purposes of espionage,” the organization contends. “Even more important in the case of TikTok, however, is how China's government exploits Chinese internet companies for overseas political interference through propaganda, misinformation, and censorship.”

The Pence-founded group and allies are asking the court to reject a challenge by TikTok and users to the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521).

That law, passed earlier this year, will prohibit app stores and websites from distributing TikTok unless it's sold by ByteDance by January 19. The statute provides that the U.S. president can extend that deadline by three months, but President Joe Biden, who will still be in office on that date, hasn't yet indicated whether he will do so.

The measure was largely driven by fears that the Chinese government may be able to access data about TikTok's users, and to use the app to sway public opinion.

TikTok, which has an estimated 170 million U.S. users, along with a group of content creators challenged the law, arguing it amounts to unconstitutional censorship.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the measure earlier this month, ruling that even though the law will affect people's ability to communicate, it's justified by national security concerns. TikTok and content creators are now appealing that ruling to the Supreme Court.

The civil rights groups American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University are siding with TikTok. They argue that even if the law is framed as targeting “covert manipulation” by China, it's still an unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech.

“The record is clear that the government’s concerns about “covert manipulation” are at bottom concerns about propaganda -- i.e. about Americans’ access to the perceived content and viewpoints presented on TikTok,” the groups wrote.

They added that the Supreme Court in 1965 previously invalidated a law that would have restricted the Postal Service from delivering foreign communist propaganda.

The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for January 10 -- nine days before the law is slated to take effect.