Court of Appeal upholds TikTok ban: what you need to know

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law that could lead to… ban tik tok already next month.

US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected TikTok request overturn a law that initially gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance until mid-January to sell the popular social media platform to a buyer deemed suitable by U.S. officials. TikTok has vowed to challenge the law in court, arguing it violates its free speech rights.

In its decision, the court acknowledged that the ban would require TikTok’s millions of users to “find alternative means of communication” but was justified by the “hybrid commercial threat” China poses to US national security.

“The First Amendment exists to protect freedom of speech in the United States. Here, the government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary and to limit that adversary’s ability to collect data on people in the United States,” the court wrote.

In response to the appeals court ruling, TikTok said the ban would “silence the voices of more than 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19, 2025.”

Lawmakers from both political parties have long expressed concerns that TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, could pose a national security threat and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to advance Chinese interests.

TikTok continues to deny these allegations. Ahead of the congressional vote earlier this year, TikTok has rallied its users in the USurging them to persuade their representatives on Capitol Hill to vote against him. But the measure ultimately passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress.

Check this out: USA vs TikTok: what happens next

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TikTok is expected to appeal Friday’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The company could also get help from the new Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump, who pushed for a ban during his first term, now says he no longer supports it.

“The Supreme Court has a history of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect them to do so on this important constitutional issue,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

So what’s next for lawmakers and TikTok? Here’s what you need to know.

What does the law do?

The legislation aims to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer that U.S. officials agree with, while also ensuring that ByteDance no longer has access to U.S. user data or control over TikTok’s algorithm, which decides what videos American users see.

TikTok was given nine months to comply, hence the January deadline, after which the government could demand its app be removed from US app stores. The President may grant an extension of 90 days.

President Joe Biden, who signed the bill establishing those requirements, will remain in office until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

What’s next?

After initially calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump said In March, he stated on CNBC’s Squawk Box that while he still considers the app a national security threat, he no longer believes it should be banned, stating that “there are a lot of little kids on TikTok who would get by without it.” crazy.”

Trump added that banning TikTok would only strengthen the power of Facebook, which he called “the enemy of the people.”

In September, Trump promised “save TikTok“, reports the Associated Press.

Who opposed the TikTok ban?

Free speech and digital rights groups and some security experts have long opposed the idea of a ban, saying that singling out TikTok does not help address broader problems with social media in general.

Instead, they argue that lawmakers would be better off passing comprehensive digital privacy laws that would protect Americans’ personal information by banning all social media companies from collecting it and selling it to data brokers.