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A US federal appeals court on Friday set a mid-January deadline for a federal law requiring the sale or ban of TikTok to take effect, rejecting the company’s request to stop the application of the law until the Supreme Court reviews its challenge.
Lawyers for TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.
It’s unclear whether the nation’s highest court will take up the case, though some legal experts have said they expect the justices to intervene because of the kinds of new questions it raises about social media, national security and the First amendment
TikTok is also seeking a potential lifeline from President-elect Donald Trump, who promised to “save” the short-form video platform during the presidential campaign.
Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance had sought the injunction after a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the US government and rejected their challenge to the law
The statute, which was signed by US President Joe Biden earlier this year, requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer or face a US ban over national security concerns.
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The United States has said it sees TikTok as a national security risk because Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data or manipulate the platform’s content for Beijing’s interests. TikTok has denied these claims and argued that the government’s case is based on hypothetical future risks rather than proven facts.
In the filing last week, lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance asked for a “modest delay” in enforcing the law so the Supreme Court could review the case and the incoming Trump administration could “determine its position” about it.
If the law is not overturned, the two companies have said the popular app will be shut down on January 19, just one day before Trump takes office again. More than 170 million US users would be affected, according to the companies.
The Justice Department had opposed TikTok’s request for a pause, saying in a court filing last week that the parties had already proposed a schedule that was “designed for the precise purpose” of allowing the Supreme Court to review the law before it came into force.
The appeals court issued its decision on Dec. 6 in the matter according to that schedule, the Justice Department said.
