By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on national security grounds.
The court has scheduled arguments on the case for Jan. 10.
McConnell in a brief filed with the court called the companies' arguments "meritless and unsound... This is a standard litigation play at the end of one administration, with a petitioner hoping that the next administration will provide a stay of execution. This court should no more countenance it coming from foreign adversaries than it does from hardened criminals."
McConnell noted Congress set the Jan. 19 date that "very clearly removes any possible political uncertainty in the execution of the law by cabining it to an administration that was deeply supportive of the bill’s goals."
TikTok did not immediately comment. The company noted in legal filings that President-elect Donald Trump has said he does not want TikTok banned.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in a joint filing urged the court to block a ban of TikTok "that millions use every day to communicate, learn about the world, and express themselves."
The groups called the ban unprecedented, adding it "will cause an extraordinary disruption in Americans’ ability to engage."
New downloads of TikTok on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) app stores would be banned but existing users could continue to access TikTok but services would degrade over time and eventually stop working as companies will be barred from providing support.
TikTok said in a court filing this week it estimates one-third of the 170 million Americans using TikTok would stop accessing the app if the ban lasts a month.