TikTok lost its appeal to a proposed ban in the United States, as a federal court on Friday upheld the Jan. 19 deadline for the Chinese-owned social media app to either sell its American interests or shut down altogether.
A panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s request to dismiss the new law, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, which takes effect the day before the inauguration of Donald Trump. Trump has supported the app, but halting the ban schedule would be nearly impossible for the incoming President.
The decision is a major setback for the app, as the U.S. is one of its largest markets with more than 170 million users. Free-speech advocates and monetized TikTok users have been the most vocal opponents of the ban.
The law, signed in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to a non-Chinese company by Jan. 19, 2025, or shut down U.S. operations. The company says its hands are tied because the Chinese government would block any sale attempt; it has also argued its case on First Amendment grounds.
The appeals court noted that the law was carefully crafted to focus on dealing with a foreign adversary gathering data on U.S. citizens, and therefore was not a First Amendment issue.
The next step for TikTok is the Supreme Court, which may or may not choose to decide the case. Trump has promised to rescue the app, but has no clear legal path nor articulated course of action.
ByteDance is seen by the intelligence community as a national security threat, as there is complete oversight over private companies in China – where TikTok is not allowed. American platforms like Facebook and YouTube are also banned in China.
