U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his positive stance on TikTok, which is on the verge of being kicked out of the U.S., hinting at the possibility of seeking relief.
"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said at a press conference held at his home in Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on the 16th local time.
"I won by 34 percentage points in the younger generation (voters), and there are people who say TikTok has something to do with this," he said.
Asked if he would try to prevent TikTok from being kicked out of the U.S. after taking office, he replied, "I'll take a look."
Citing sources, the Associated Press and CNN also reported that Trump is scheduled to meet with TikTok CEO Chu Shouz in Mar-a-Lago later in the day.
CEO Shawes has been trying to meet Trump since he was elected and was also seen earlier this month in Mar-a-Lago, but this is reportedly the first time he has actually met Trump, CNN said.
Meanwhile, lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance, the company's Chinese parent company, filed an injunction with the Supreme Court to urgently suspend the so-called TikTok ban (the forced sale of business rights in the U.S.) that takes effect on January 19 next year, according to the AP and other U.S. media.
Earlier, TikTok filed a provisional injunction to block the enforcement of the law until the Supreme Court ruled on whether the law was constitutional, but the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., rejected it on the 13th.
As a result, TikTok appealed again to the Supreme Court with the same content.
"A slight delay in the enforcement of the law would allow courts to review (constitutionality) in an orderly manner and allow the new administration to evaluate the matter before important communication channels for U.S. citizens are shut down," TikTok said.
He also complained that if the platform's closure lasted only a month, it would lose about a third of its daily users in the U.S. and significant advertising revenue.
TikTok expects Trump's new administration, which will take office on January 20 next year, to come up with relief measures if the Supreme Court temporarily suspends the law enforcement.The TikTok ban, dubbed the
Act to Protect Americans from Enemy-controlled Applications', calls for ByteDance to suspend TikTok services in the U.S. if it does not sell TikTok's U.S. business rights.
Chinese hawks in the U.S. Congress proposed the bill on TikTok, a Chinese company, on the grounds that the Chinese Communist Party could interfere in U.S. elections and public opinion formation, and it was passed by Congress in April.
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