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China-based ByteDance and its short-video app TikTok asked an appeals court on Monday to temporarily block a request that parent company ByteDance Spin off TikTok before January 19 Or face a ban pending review United States Supreme Court.
The companies filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, warning that without the order, the law would take effect and “shut down TikTok — one of the most popular speech platforms in the United States — to its more than 170 million users.” Domestic monthly users on the eve of taking office.
On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal upheld the request Byte Bounce will spin off TikTok It’s available in the US early next year or faces a ban in just six weeks.
Lawyers for the companies said the likelihood that the Supreme Court would take up the case and throw it out was “high enough to warrant a temporary stay to create time for further deliberations”.
These companies are also taking note of President-elect Donald Trump have Vows to stop banarguing that a delay “will give the incoming administration time to determine its position — something that could trigger imminent harm and the need for Supreme Court review.”
The Justice Department had no immediate comment.
Unless the Supreme Court overturns the decision, the decision puts TikTok’s fate in the hands of the first president Joe Biden Trump, who takes office on January 20, is debating whether to extend the January 19 deadline by 90 days to force a sale. made significant progress.
Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said before the November presidential election that he would not allow TikTok to be banned.
The decision upholds a law that gives the U.S. government broad authority to ban other foreign-owned apps that could raise concerns about collecting data on Americans. In 2020, Trump also tried to ban WeChat, owned by Tencent, but was blocked by the court.
