The ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the DC on Dec. 6 denied TikTok's request to block a law to potentially ban the social network.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company faces a ban in the US next month as a result of a federal appeals court ruling Friday, ratcheting up a political clash over the wildly popular video-sharing app.
A three-judge panel in Washington unanimously upheld a new US law, ruling that it didn’t violate free speech protections under the Constitution’s First Amendment. Unless the company is sold, the decision leaves the Supreme Court as the company’s last realistic hope for stopping the ban from taking effect on Jan. 19.
“Today’s decision is an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans, to covertly manipulate the content delivered to American audiences, and to undermine our national security,”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
TikTok indicated in a statement on X that it will appeal and expects the justices will side with them on the free-speech issue.
“Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,”
according to the statement.
Although the ban kicks in the day before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, his opposition to it could still complicate its enforcement. Trump spoke out against a ban as he courted younger Americans in his campaign despite trying to force its sale during his first term.
More than 170 million Americans use TikTok — owned by China-based ByteDance Ltd. — as a source of entertainment and information or as a platform to build their businesses. A Pew Research survey released in September showed about 17% of US adults regularly receive news from the app, representing a fivefold jump from 2020.
Among those likely to benefit from a TikTok ban are Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc., because they’re likely to see an increase in use of their own social-media platforms, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Oracle Corp. could take a hit because it offers internet hosting services to TikTok.
A package of laws that includes an initiative to possibly ban TikTok in the country was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2024. The initiative proposes to give ByteDance one year to sell the social network, otherwise a ban on TikTok in the US may follow.
Source: Bloomberg
