Three judges have rejected ByteDance‘s petition to overturn a law that could have banned TikTok in the United States. On Friday, The New York Times reported that the judges upheld a new law that requires the company to sell the app to a non-Chinese company by January 19, or face a ban.
ByteDance argued that the law unfairly targets TikTok and that a ban would violate users’ First Amendment rights. The company said the sale was impossible because the Chinese government would block it. In 2020, the country updated its export control rules to give it more authority over the potential transaction.
In a statement to Engadget, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said it was disappointed by the decision. “Restricting the free flow of information, even from foreign adversaries, is fundamentally undemocratic,” an EFF spokesperson wrote. “Until now, the U.S. has stood up for the free flow of information and called out other countries when they shut down internet access or ban online communication tools such as social media applications.”
ByteDance’s next steps include appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court (although there is no guarantee it will take the case) or hoping that President-elect Donald Trump will follow through on a vague promise to “deliver” a plan to save the app. On Friday, ByteDance suggested that the decision was censorship and said it expects the Supreme Court to uphold “Americans’ right to free speech.”
The NYT reports that legal experts see no way for Trump to save the app after taking office on January 20, 2025. During his first term, he issued executive orders limiting American cooperation with the app, citing national security concerns and suggesting that the app could be a data collection trojan horse for the Chinese government. Microsoft was ready and willing to buy it if given the opportunity. The ban faced a number of legal challenges, and President Biden rescinded the order in 2021.
Trump changed his position in early 2024, reportedly after meeting with a Republican mega-donor with a significant financial stake in the app. The change in the president-elect’s stance intensified after Biden signed a law that could lead to a ban in early 2025. By the time the election season was in full swing, Trump had transformed himself into a savior of TikTok and used it as a wedge to attract young users to his campaign.
