WASHINGTON – On Monday, TikTok urged the Supreme Court to pause the impending Jan. 19 deadline, by which it must either be sold or face a ban in the United States.

In an emergency petition, legal representatives for TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, located in China, argued for the delay while the Supreme Court reviews their challenge against the federal law requiring the sale.

The company also claimed that the incoming Trump administration should have time to assess what TikTok describes as a “significant and unprecedented restriction on free speech.”

This month saw a federal appeals court confirm the law and deny TikTok’s request to delay its enforcement while the Supreme Court evaluates the company’s appeal.

If ByteDance does not sell the widely-used app by the deadline, it will be excluded from app stores and web hosting services across the U.S.

This legislation was passed by Congress in April, garnering strong bipartisan support.

Supporters of the law cited that TikTok presents a national security threat and raised alarms over the potential for the Chinese government to surveil U.S. citizens and disseminate propaganda through the app.

The Jan. 19 deadline falls just one day before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to “save TikTok” despite his efforts to ban the app during his first term.

On Monday, he told reporters he has a “soft spot” for TikTok.

“We’ll take a look at TikTok,” Trump remarked in response to a query about his plans for the platform.

The company claims over 170 million users in the United States alone.

TikTok argues that the law infringes upon the First Amendment rights of its users.

The appeals court dismissed this claim, stating, “The First Amendment is meant to safeguard free speech in the U.S. Here the government acted to defend that freedom against a foreign adversary and limit its capacity to gather data on Americans.”

TikTok urged the Supreme Court to intervene by Jan. 6 to allow app stores and web hosting providers time to comply with the Jan. 19 deadline if enforcement is not suspended.

According to the company, a delay would not inflict any significant harm on the government, but even a temporary ban on TikTok could have “devastating” implications for its ability to retain users and content creators.

A shutdown lasting one month could result in the site losing a third of its daily users, TikTok asserts.

“A brief pause in enforcing the Act will give this Court necessary time to conduct a thorough review and allow the new Administration to assess the situation,” TikTok’s legal representatives told the court, “before this essential platform for American communication is shut down.”