[ti:TikTok Asks Court to Block US Ban, Seeks US Supreme Court Hearing]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]TikTok has asked a U.S. appeals court
[00:04.44]to temporarily block
[00:07.20]a law requiring its parent company,
[00:10.68]ByteDance, to divest itself
[00:14.16]of the popular video sharing service,
[00:17.76]or face a U.S. ban.
[00:20.68]The legal request comes
[00:23.72]after the same federal appeals court last week
[00:28.40]upheld a law that forces ByteDance to sell TikTok
[00:33.96]by January 19 or face the ban.
[00:38.84]Lawyers for ByteDance and TikTok
[00:42.84]are seeking to temporarily block the law
[00:46.56]to give the U.S. Supreme Court a chance
[00:50.72]to rule on the case.
[00:53.12]The companies said the Supreme Court
[00:57.08]had "an established historical record of
[01:00.96]protecting Americans' right to free speech."
[01:05.36]They added their opinion
[01:07.84]that they expected the high court
[01:10.44]to "do just that on this
[01:13.84]important constitutional issue."
[01:17.68]In the legal request,
[01:20.08]the companies warned that,
[01:22.40]without court intervention,
[01:25.00]the law would take effect next month
[01:28.24]leading to the closure of TikTok in the U.S.
[01:32.60]They called the service, or app,
[01:36.40]"one of the nation's
[01:37.88]most popular speech platforms,"
[01:41.12]noting it currently has more than
[01:44.00]170 million monthly users in the U.S.
[01:49.72]TikTok also warned that,
[01:52.92]if the law takes effect, it would affect
[01:56.12]"services for tens of millions of TikTok users
[02:00.64]outside the United States."
[02:03.80]The companies asked the appeals court
[02:07.84]to act on their request by December 16.
[02:11.96]They noted that President-elect Donald Trump
[02:16.40]has suggested he may try
[02:19.08]to prevent a U.S. ban on TikTok.
[02:23.00]Trump is set to take office on January 20.
[02:28.20]A temporary block on the law
[02:31.36]could "give the incoming administration
[02:34.64]time to determine its position," they said.
[02:38.96]The new administration's position,
[02:42.12]the companies argued,
[02:43.84]could make the Supreme Court hearing
[02:46.36]of the case unnecessary.
[02:49.32]Unless the Supreme Court rules,
[02:52.24]a decision about whether to delay the TikTok ban
[02:56.32]would rest with President Joe Biden.
[02:59.92]He could approve a 90-day extension
[03:03.84]past January 19.
[03:06.60]However, experts have noted
[03:09.64]it is not clear whether ByteDance
[03:12.40]could meet a series of requirements
[03:15.28]needed to permit an extension.
[03:18.80]In its ruling, the appeals court recognized
[03:22.76]that "170 million Americans
[03:26.32]use TikTok to create and view
[03:30.00]all sorts of free expression."
[03:32.68]Reuters news agency reports
[03:35.84]that it is not yet clear whether
[03:38.68]the Supreme Court will consider the case.
[03:42.16]But some legal experts have said the high court
[03:46.16]is likely to agree to hear it.
[03:49.00]The law is considered by some a test
[03:53.60]to see how far the U.S. government
[03:56.12]should be permitted to go
[03:58.36]in acting against technology companies
[04:02.00]using national security as a reason.
[04:06.32]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM