U.S. Government Urges Court to Dismiss TikTok's Appeal

The Justice Department has asked a U.S. appeals court to reject TikTok's emergency bid to block a law that would force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app by January 19 or face a ban. TikTok and ByteDance filed the motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, warning that without court action, the law will "shut down TikTok — one of the nation’s most popular speech platforms — for its more than 170 million domestic monthly users."

National Security Concerns

The Justice Department argued that the court should not delay the law's effective date, stating that "continued Chinese control of the TikTok application poses a continuing threat to national security." If the ban takes effect on January 19, it would "not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok" by users who had downloaded the app, but the prohibitions on providing support "will eventually render the application unworkable."

Court Decision and Future Outlook

A three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law on Friday, requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the U.S. or face a ban in just six weeks. The companies noted that President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to prevent a ban, arguing that the delay "will give the incoming administration time to determine its position." The decision puts TikTok's fate in the hands of President Joe Biden, who could grant a 90-day extension of the January 19 deadline, and then of Trump, who takes office on January 20.

Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said before the November presidential election that he would not allow the ban on TikTok. The decision upholds the law that gives the U.S. government sweeping powers to ban other foreign-owned apps that could raise concerns about the collection of Americans' data. In 2020, Trump also tried to ban Tencent-owned WeChat, but was blocked by the courts.