Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Another day passed without any news from the US Supreme Court or TikTok, putting the popular social media app a step closer toward going dark in America. The nation’s highest court has yet to rule on TikTok’s request to overturn a law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year that would effectively ban the app in the US if TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it to a buyer deemed fit by US officials by Sunday, Jan. 19.At a Thursday news conference, Sens. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Corey Booker of New Jersey called on Biden to extend the deadline by 90 days as provided for in the legislation. The idea also has the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who like Markey and Booker pledged to work with incoming president Donald Trump to find a way to save TikTok, while also protecting US national security.”It’s time to take a breath, step back, buy some time. try to figure this out rationally, but in no way should we have TikTok go dark on Sunday,” Markey said. “It would be catastrophic for just so many small business, so many creators, so many communities.”A Biden administration official told ABC News on Thursday that the White House won’t enforce the law during the remaining days before Trump takes office on Jan. 21.Lawyers for TikTok and the US government both pleaded their cases in oral arguments before the court last week, with TikTok charging that a ban would infringe on the First Amendment rights of the company and its users. But based on the questions and comments made during the more than 2-hour-long hearing, it appeared that the justices were more on board with the government’s argument the case isn’t about free speech and instead has to do with the dangers posed by foreign adversaries, like China. TikTok Backups: 6 Similar Apps for Your Daily Dose of FunIt’s unclear when the Supreme Court will issue a ruling. The court also could issue a stay, putting the law temporarily on hold until President-elect Donald Trump takes office just a day later on Jan. 20.Lawmakers in both political parties have long voiced concerns that TikTok could be a threat to national security and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to further China’s agenda.TikTok continues to deny those accusations. Ahead of votes in Congress earlier this year, TikTok rallied its US users, calling on them to urge their representatives on Capitol Hill to vote down a ban. But the measure ultimately passed by wide margins in both chambers of Congress and was signed by Biden. Watch this: US vs. TikTok: What Happens Next
02:15 But Trump, who pushed for a ban during his first term, now says he’s no longer in favor of one. Ahead of the oral arguments, lawyers for Trump filed an amicus brief in the case. They didn’t take a side but instead ask the court to delay the ban to give Trump time to come up with a “political resolution.”So what’s next for lawmakers and TikTok? Here’s what you need to know.What does the law do?The law is aimed at forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer American officials are OK with, as well as guaranteeing that ByteDance no longer has access to US user data or control over the TikTok algorithm that decides what videos American users see. TikTok was given nine months to comply, hence the Jan. 19 deadline, at which point the government could require the removal of its app from US app stores. The president could grant a 90-day extension. Earlier this week, Markey announced legislation that would have given TikTok another nine months, but it was blocked by Republicans. TikTok has long said that a sale is not an option. During last week’s oral arguments, the company’s attorney Noel Francisco said TikTok will effectively “go dark” if the ban does go into effect. It’s also possible that the app would die a slow death. It wouldn’t shutdown, but would no longer be available in the Google and Apple app stores and current users wouldn’t be able to get software updates, which would eventually make the app too buggy to use. Biden, who signed the bill that established those requirements, remains in office until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.Read more: TikTok Loves to Give Financial Advice. But Don’t Believe Everything You HearWhat’s next?After originally calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he wasn’t in favor of one and pledged to “save TikTok,” though he didn’t specify how he’d do that.During a press conference in December, Trump pointed to the role TikTok played during the election, crediting it with helping him pick up the votes of young people.”TikTok had an impact, and so we’re taking a look at it,” Trump told the press. “I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart. I’ll be honest.”Trump said in March on CNBC’s Squawk Box that though he still viewed the app as a danger to national security, he no longer thought it should be banned, saying, “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”Trump added that banning TikTok would only boost the power of Facebook, which he referred to as an “enemy of the people.”In September, Trump pledged to “save TikTok,” according to an Associated Press report. But during an interview that aired last month on Meet the Press, Trump didn’t directly say if or how he’d help TikTok avoid a ban.Read more: Everything You Need to Make Better TikTok VideosWho has opposed the TikTok ban?Free speech and digital rights groups, as well as some security experts, have long opposed the idea of a ban, saying that singling out TikTok doesn’t do anything to solve the broader problems with social media. Several filed briefs with the high court supporting TikTok.Instead they argue that lawmakers would be better off passing comprehensive digital privacy laws that would protect the personal information of Americans by regulating the ability of all social media companies to collect and sell it.Electronic Frontier Foundation Civil Liberties Director David Greene, who co-authored an amicus brief submitted to the court late last month, said corporations from all over the world are currently allowed to collect, store and sell the personal data of Americans. And that data could easily be stolen or bought by foreign adversaries. “The ban or forced sale of one social media app will do virtually nothing to protect Americans’ data privacy from another country,” Greene said in an EFF statement.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘set’, ‘autoConfig’, false, ‘789754228632403’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘789754228632403’);
