A federal appeals court in the United States has upheld a law that requires China-based ByteDance to remove its popular short video app TikTok in the US early next year or face a ban .
The decision is a complete victory for the Department of Justice and opponents of the app and a devastating blow for ByteDance. The decision now increases the possibility of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.
The decision is likely to be appealed to the High Court.
Free speech advocates immediately criticized the decision. The American Civil Liberties Union said it sets a “dangerous and dangerous precedent.”
“Banning TikTok is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans who use this app to express themselves and communicate with people around the world,” said Patrick Toomey, deputy -director of the ACLU's National Security Project.
The appeals court said the law “was the result of extensive, bipartisan action by Congress and successive presidents. It was carefully designed to deal solely with the control of a foreign adversary, and was part of a broader effort to counter a well-documented national security threat from the PRC (People's Republic of China).
US appeals court judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg considered the legal challenges brought by TikTok and users against the law that gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell or dispose of TikTok's US assets. against prohibition.
The decision — unless the Supreme Court reverses it — puts the fate of TikTok in the hands of first-time President Joe Biden on whether to grant a 90-day extension on a deadline January 19 to force a sale and then to President-elect Donald Trump, who takes. office on January 20. But it's unclear whether ByteDance could meet the heavy burden of showing it had made significant progress toward the momentum needed to fuel the expansion.
Trump, who tried unsuccessfully to ban TikTok in his first term in 2020, said before the November presidential election that he would not allow the ban on TikTok.
TikTok said it expected the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court's decision on First Amendment grounds.
“The Supreme Court has an established history of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect them to do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok said in a statement. adding that the law will “completely suppress the law of the American people.”
There was no immediate comment from the Department of Justice.
The court acknowledged that its decision would ban TikTok on January 19 without an extension from Biden.
“As a result, millions of TikTok users will have to find other means of communication,” the court said, citing China's “hybrid commercial threat to US national security, not the US Government.” , who was involved in TikTok through a multi-year process in an effort to find an alternative solution.”
The opinion was written by Justice Ginsburg, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, and was joined by Justice Rao, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, and Srinivasan, who was nominated by his ' President Barack Obama.
'speculative concerns'
The Department of Justice says that under Chinese ownership, TikTok is a real national security threat because it has access to large personal data of Americans, saying that China can secretly process information that Americans consume through TikTok.
TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law is unconstitutional and violates Americans' free speech rights. They say it's “a huge departure from this country's tradition of supporting an open Internet.”
ByteDance, backed by Sequoia Capital, Susquehanna International Group, KKR & Co, and General Atlantic, among others, was valued at $268bn in December 2023 when it offered shares worth around $5bn. buy back from investors.
The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Alphabet's Google from offering TikTok and prevents Internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance removes TikTok by the deadline.
US officials have warned that the regulation of TikTok is seen by the Chinese government, which could force the company to share the data of US users.
TikTok has denied that it has or would ever share US user data, accusing US lawmakers in the lawsuit of hacking “speculative” concerns.
In a concurring opinion, Judge Srinivasan acknowledged that the decision would have far-reaching implications, noting that “170 million Americans use TikTok to express all kinds of free expression.” create and see and engage with each other and the world. And yet, in part because of the broad reach of the platform, Congress and multiple presidents have decided that it is necessary to remove it from (China's) control in order to protect our national security. protection “
He said, “because the record shows that Congress's decision was considered, consistent with long-standing executive practice, and without an institutional goal to suppress particular messages or ideas, we are unable to the second side. “
