A federal appeals court on Friday left in place a mid-January deadline in a federal law requiring TikTok to be sold or face a ban in the United States, rejecting to halt enforcement until the Supreme Court reviews its challenge of the statute.
Attorneys for TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.
It鈥檚 unclear if the nation's highest court will take up the case, though some legal experts have said they expect the justices to weigh in due to the types of novel questions it raises about social media, national security and the First Amendment. TikTok is also looking for a potential lifeline from President-elect Donald Trump, who during the presidential campaign.
Attorneys for TikTok and ByteDance had requested the injunction after a panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and rejected their challenge to the law.
The court rejected that request on Friday, calling it 鈥渦nwarranted."
鈥淭he petitioners have not identified any case in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Act of Congress, has enjoined the Act from going into effect while review is sought in the Supreme Court,鈥� said the court's order, which was unsigned.
The statute, which was signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year, requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer due to national security concerns or face a ban in the U.S.
The U.S. has said it sees TikTok as a national security risk because ByteDance could be coerced by Chinese authorities to hand over U.S. user data or manipulate content on the platform for Beijing鈥檚 interests. TikTok has denied those claims and has argued that the government鈥檚 case rests on hypothetical future risks instead of proven facts.
In the request filed this week, attorneys for TikTok and ByteDance had asked for a 鈥渕odest delay鈥� in enforcement of the law so that the Supreme Court could review the case and the incoming Trump administration could 鈥渄etermine its position鈥� on the matter.
If the law is not overturned, the two companies have said that the popular app will shut down by Jan. 19, just a day before Trump takes office again. More than 170 million American users would be affected, the companies have said.
The Justice Department had opposed TikTok鈥檚 request for a pause, saying in a court filing this week that the parties had already proposed a schedule that was 鈥渄esigned for the precise purpose鈥� of allowing Supreme Court review of the law before it took effect.
The appeals court issued its Dec. 6 ruling on the matter in line with that schedule, the Justice Department filing said.
Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press
