U.S. requests court to deny TikTok’s attempt to block a law that could ban the app

BY COMFORT OGBONNA

The Justice Department filed a request late Wednesday with a U.S. appeals court, urging it to reject TikTok’s emergency bid to temporarily block a law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the short-video app by January 19 or face a nationwide ban.

TikTok and ByteDance submitted the emergency motion on Monday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia while awaiting a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. They argued that without court intervention, the law would effectively “shut down TikTok — one of the nation’s most popular speech platforms — for its more than 170 million domestic monthly users.”

The Justice Department countered, asserting that the law should take effect as planned, claiming that “continued Chinese control of the TikTok application poses a continuing threat to national security.” TikTok has not yet responded to requests for comment.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department noted that if the ban takes effect on January 19, it would “not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok” by individuals who already have the app downloaded. However, the department acknowledged that restrictions on providing support for the app would “eventually render the application unworkable.”

Last Friday, a three-judge panel from the appeals court upheld the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States within six weeks or face a ban. ByteDance and TikTok argued that the delay would give the incoming administration time to reassess its stance, emphasizing that President-elect Donald Trump had previously vowed to prevent such a ban.

Unless the Supreme Court overturns the decision, TikTok’s future will hinge on two factors: whether President Joe Biden grants a 90-day extension of the January 19 deadline to finalize a sale and the position of Trump, who takes office on January 20.

Trump, who attempted unsuccessfully to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, reiterated before the November election that he would not allow the platform to be banned.

The court’s decision reinforces a law granting the U.S. government broad authority to ban other foreign-owned apps that may raise concerns about the collection of Americans’ data. In 2020, Trump also attempted to ban Tencent-owned WeChat, but those efforts were blocked by the courts.