Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday asked for an extension on a deadline for a potential TikTok ban to allow time for those who use the app to support their livelihood to find a “workable solution.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of whether TikTok should be banned because of its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
If its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok to a U.S.-based company, it’s likely the app will be banned by Jan. 19 if the Supreme Court doesn’t block the law.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the law on Dec. 13, refusing TikTok’s petition to stop the ban from taking effect, which led to the company’s plea before the Supreme Court.
President-elect Donald Trump, who initially brought TikTok’s problematic CCP-ties into the limelight amid criticism during his first administration, has asked the Supreme Court justices to pause the law so that he may attempt to negotiate a solution next week.
Schumer, after praising what he called “one of the most productive periods in modern American history” under the Biden administration, used his time on the Senate floor to support efforts to extend TikTok’s deadline.
He said no one is against TikTok itself. The issue is the company’s connection to the CCP.
“Unfortunately, TikTok as it exists today has too many security risks that cannot be ignored,” he said. “The law passed last year was intended to sever TikTok from influence of the CCP while keeping the app available for Americans.”
More time is needed, he said, to allow for an American investor to step in and buy the company, which would allow for a smooth transition that wouldn’t “disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers.”
He noted an attempt to pass legislation that would have extended the deadline. That legislation was blocked by Senate Republicans, he said.
“Let me be crystal clear: there will be no extensions, no concessions, and no compromises for TikTok,” he said after criticizing the app, saying that it “endangers our national security and poisons our children.”
Despite the block, Schumer said work will continue in seeking out a “responsible solution to keeping TikTok going” while protecting Americans “against CCP surveillance.”
“We can all agree that we must protect Americans’ privacy from the prying eyes of the Chinese Communist Party,” he said. “But we should agree that it must be done in the right way, without risking content creators’ livelihoods by rushing this process in a premature way.”
