The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has rejected TikTok’s request to temporarily block or overturn a law requiring ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, to divest TikTok or face a nationwide ban. The decision leaves the popular platform’s future uncertain, impacting over 170 million monthly users in the United States.
On Monday, TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency motion with the appeals court, seeking additional time to escalate the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The companies argued that the law could unjustly lead to TikTok’s shutdown, a platform widely used for public speech. However, the court denied the motion, stating that TikTok and ByteDance failed to provide precedent for a court to block a Congressional law while awaiting Supreme Court review.
National Security Concerns
The contested law grants the U.S. government the authority to ban TikTok by January 19 unless ByteDance divests its ownership. Additionally, it enables the government to target other foreign apps deemed to pose risks to American citizens’ data security. The U.S. Justice Department maintains that TikTok represents a national security threat due to its connections to China.
In response, TikTok has asserted that the Justice Department is misrepresenting the platform’s operations. The company emphasized that U.S. user data and its content recommendation algorithm are hosted on Oracle servers, with moderation decisions made within the United States.
A Critical Deadline Approaches
Should the Supreme Court decline to intervene, TikTok’s future will hinge on the current U.S. President, Joe Biden. He could grant ByteDance a 90-day period to divest the platform by January 19. The transition of power to Donald Trump, who has previously attempted to block TikTok but later opposed its ban, adds another layer of complexity.
Meanwhile, representatives of Alphabet and Apple were urged by Congress to be ready to remove TikTok from their app stores by the January deadline, adds NIXSolutions. The situation remains fluid, and we’ll keep you updated as developments unfold.