Law forcing sale of TikTok upheld by federal appeals court

• A federal appeals court has upheld a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to divest TikTok to the United States by early next year or face a ban.
• The decision could be appealed to the Supreme Court or to a full appeals court.
• The court acknowledged that its ruling would result in TikTok being banned on January 19 without an extension from President Biden.

A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law forcing Chinese company ByteDance to divest its popular business. TikTok short video app in the United States by early next year, or face a ban.

The decision could be appealed to the Supreme Court or to a full appeals court.

U.S. appeals court judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg considered legal challenges brought by TikTok and users against the law that gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell or divest TikTok's U.S. assets under penalty of prohibition.

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The appeals court said the law “was the culmination of far-reaching bipartisan action by Congress and successive presidents. It was carefully designed to address only control by a foreign adversary and it did part of a broader effort to counter a well-founded national security threat posed by the PRC (People's Republic of China).

The decision is a complete victory for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese app and a devastating blow for ByteDance. The ruling now raises the possibility of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks of a social media app used by 170 million Americans.

There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department or TikTok on the decision.

A federal appeals court has upheld a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/File photo / Reuters)

President Joe Biden, who signed the law in April, can grant a one-time extension of up to 90 days, but only if ByteDance has made significant progress in finding a buyer.

The court acknowledged that its decision would result in TikTok being banned on January 19 without an extension from Biden.

“Consequently, TikTok's millions of users will need to find alternative means of communication,” the court said, due to China's “hybrid commercial threat to the national security of the United States, not to the government American, which has signed with TikTok under a multi-year agreement. process with the aim of finding an alternative solution.

The Justice Department says Chinese-owned TikTok poses a serious threat to national security because of its access to vast personal data of Americansclaiming that China can covertly manipulate the information Americans consume through TikTok.

TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law is unconstitutional and violates Americans' right to free speech. They call it a “radical break with this country's tradition of championing an open Internet.”

President-elect Donald Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said before the November election that he would not allow TikTok to be banned.

A Tik Tok logo is seen during a media tour at the company's headquarters in Singapore on September 7, 2023. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Alphabet's Google from offering TikTok and prohibits internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests TikTok before the deadline.

US officials have warned that TikTok management is beholden to the Chinese government, which could force the company to share the data of its American users.

TikTok has denied sharing or sharing U.S. users' data, accusing U.S. lawmakers in the lawsuit of advancing “speculative” concerns.