A federal appeals court upheld a law on Friday mandating that ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of the social media platform TikTok, divest its operations in the United States by Jan. 19 or face a nationwide ban of the app.
The 92-page ruling, delivered by Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao, and Douglas Ginsburg, marks a significant step in efforts to address national security concerns tied to TikTok’s Chinese ownership. The law, however, can be challenged in the Supreme Court or before the full appeals court panel.
The judges upheld the law, citing its enactment as a bipartisan effort by Congress and multiple administrations in an effort to target foreign adversaries such as China. They emphasized it was crafted to address a “well-substantiated national security threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”
The legislation, signed by President Joe Biden in April, allows ByteDance an extension of up to 90 days if significant progress is made in selling TikTok’s U.S. operations. Without an extension, the app will be banned by Jan. 19, which may leave millions of American users without access.
The Justice Department argues TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a national security risk due to the potential misuse of vast amounts of U.S. user data and content manipulation. TikTok and ByteDance, though, have dismissed these concerns as speculative and maintain that the law violates constitutional rights, including that of free speech.
The ruling also prohibits app stores, such as the ones hosted by Apple and Google, from offering TikTok after the deadline and prevents hosting services from supporting the app unless ownership is transferred.
ByteDance denies allegations of sharing or being compelled to share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, labeling such claims as unfounded.
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The Washington Examiner contacted representatives of TikTok for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
