TikTok must act swiftly to petition the U.S. Supreme Court after an appeals court on Friday rejected its request for more time, potentially forcing its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app by January 19. TikTok and ByteDance had filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia earlier this week, seeking more time to present their case to the Supreme Court.
The companies argued that without court intervention, the law would effectively “shut down TikTok,” impacting its over 170 million U.S. users. However, the court rejected the motion, stating that TikTok and ByteDance had not provided a precedent where a court has blocked an Act of Congress while the case is reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Following the ruling, a TikTok spokesperson confirmed the company plans to take its case to the Supreme Court, emphasizing its historical commitment to protecting free speech rights.
Under the current law, TikTok faces a ban unless ByteDance divests from it by January 19. This law also grants the U.S. government broad authority to ban other foreign-owned apps that may pose data security concerns. The U.S. Justice Department argues that Chinese control over TikTok presents a national security threat, while TikTok counters, stating that its data is stored in the U.S. and content moderation decisions for U.S. users are made within the country.
Unless the Supreme Court overturns the decision, TikTok’s fate will first depend on President Joe Biden, who can grant a 90-day extension to the divestment deadline, and then on President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20. Trump had previously tried, without success, to ban TikTok in 2020 and stated during the 2020 election that he would not allow the ban to proceed.
Additionally, U.S. lawmakers have instructed Google-parent Alphabet and Apple to be ready to remove TikTok from their app stores by January 19.
