Challenge Appeals Court Ruling
In a blow to the social media short-video app, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected its emergency request for more time to challenge a law that obliges its parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by January 19. The decision effectively leaves TikTok facing an imminent shutdown unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes.
Legal Challenge and Subsequent Steps
The company said it has free speech concerns and would appeal to the Supreme Court. TikTok said that this law might shut down the app and deprive a platform used by more than 170 million Americans.
National Security Concerns
The U.S. government claims that the Chinese ownership of ByteDance creates a national security risk specifically in data privacy. TikTok denies this by saying that all its data is kept in the United States in servers owned by Oracle, and that all the decisions about content moderation are also made in the United States.
Political Implications
If the Supreme Court does not reverse the ruling, the decision will be in the hands of President Joe Biden. He will have to decide whether or not to grant a 90-day extension on the deadline for divestment before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office. Trump has previously indicated he would not allow a TikTok ban.
App Store Potential Ban
Besides the legal battle, U.S. lawmakers are also calling for the removal of TikTok from the app stores operated by companies like Google and Apple. If ByteDance doesn’t divest, lawmakers demand that companies remove the application by January 19.