A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Friday in favor of a law that mandates Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest its popular short-video app, TikTok, by January 19, 2024, or face a nationwide ban, Reuters reported. The ruling could still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court or to the full panel of the appeals court.
The case was reviewed by Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg, who considered challenges brought by TikTok and its users against the law. Signed by President Joe Biden in April, the legislation gives ByteDance until January 19 to divest or sell TikTok’s U.S. assets. Biden, however, has the authority to grant a one-time extension of up to 90 days if ByteDance demonstrates significant progress in finding a buyer.
The U.S. Justice Department argued that under Chinese ownership, TikTok presents a significant national security threat due to its access to large amounts of American users’ personal data. The department contends that the Chinese government could exploit this information to influence public opinion or spread propaganda.
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, maintain that the law is unconstitutional, asserting that it infringes upon Americans’ free speech rights and represents a dangerous shift away from the U.S. tradition of supporting an open internet.
The case echoed previous attempts to block TikTok. Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app in 2020, citing national security concerns, but his efforts were unsuccessful. In contrast, President Biden has not taken direct steps to ban the app, though his administration supports the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok.
If the law is enforced, it would bar app stores like Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store from offering TikTok, and internet hosting services would be prohibited from supporting the app unless ByteDance complies with the divestiture deadline. The case remains a key point of contention in the broader debate over national security, privacy, and the role of foreign technology companies in the U.S. market.