- A panel of judges has ruled a law that forces the sale or ban of TikTok in the United States is constitutional.
- The panel heard arguments around national security and the First Amendment.
- The case is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, and once in office, President-elect Trump may also intervene.
The future of TikTok in the United States looks darker.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that a law designed to force a sale or ban on TikTok it is constitutional.
Protecting Americans from the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act passed through Congress in April. The bill made it illegal for companies like Apple and Google to host foreign adversary apps that allow users to “create an account or profile to generate, share and view text, images, video, real-time communications , or similar content.”
It named TikTok and its owner ByteDance as covered companies. ByteDance operates in China, which the United States has considered a foreign adversary.
The law gave ByteDance until January 19 either to divest from TikTok’s American assets or to be launched from the app stores.
TikTok challenge the law in Mayarguing that it violated the First Amendment rights of its users. That’s a failed argument.
“The First Amendment exists to protect freedom of speech in the United States,” the court says. “Here the Government acted only to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to collect data on people in the United States.”
Why did the US government target TikTok?
American officials in both parties have worried that the app poses a national security risk because of its Chinese ownership. Some have raised concerns that ByteDance could be required to hand over US user data to the Chinese Communist Party, as mandated by a National Intelligence Act. Members of Congress also fear that TikTok could be used as a propaganda tool to push narratives favorable to the CCP.
TikTok has previously said it does not share information with the Chinese government and emphasized that its content moderation is managed by a US-based team that “operates independently from China.”
After today’s decision, TikTok will probably appeal the decision, and may end up before the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court upholds its constitutionality, TikTok may have a final savior in President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump once tried to ban TikTok, but that’s since flip-flopped and he said he would try saving the app once in the office.
Legal experts previously told BI that the incoming president could order his Justice Department not to apply the divest-or-ban law, or make a statement that it simply does not apply to TikTok. Both strategies it can be difficult to defend against a legal challengeespecially if the Supreme Court rules against TikTok.
Trump could also try to sell TikTok to a new owner that is not related to a foreign adversary.
ByteDance has previously said it would not sell TikTok’s US assets, but may be more open to the idea if all other options are off the table.
A sale of TikTok seems to be the preferred route among some members of Congress. Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, told BI in November that the Trump administration “will have a unique opportunity to exchange an American grip of the platform, which allows TikTok users to continue to enjoy a safer and better version of the app free from the control of foreign adversaries.