TikTok's Legal Battle Against Divestment Law

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Justice Department late on Wednesday asked a U.S. appeals court to reject an emergency bid by TikTok to temporarily block a law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the short-video app by January 19 or face a ban.

TikTok and ByteDance filed the emergency motion on Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. They warned that without court action, the law will "shut down TikTok — one of the nation’s most popular speech platforms — for its more than 170 million domestic monthly users."

The Justice Department argued that the court should not delay the law's effective date, stating that "continued Chinese control of the TikTok application poses a continuing threat to national security."

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The DOJ indicated that if the ban takes effect on January 19, it would "not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok" by users who had downloaded the app. However, it conceded that the prohibitions on providing support would eventually render the application unworkable.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law, requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the U.S. by the ban enactment in just six weeks.

The companies noted that President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to prevent a ban, asserting that the delay "will give the incoming administration time to determine its position."

This decision, unless reversed by the Supreme Court, puts TikTok's fate in the hands of President Joe Biden, who must decide whether to grant a 90-day extension on the January 19 deadline for a sale. Trump, taking office on January 20, could also influence the outcome.

Trump, who had attempted to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, previously stated he would not allow a ban on TikTok before the November presidential election.

The decision upholds the law granting the U.S. government broad powers to ban foreign-owned apps that raise concerns about the collection of Americans' data. In 2020, Trump also aimed to ban Tencent-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts.