TikTok has lost its legal challenge to a United States law that could lead to the platform’s ban in the United States. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court upheld the law, rejecting TikTok’s claim that it violated the First and Fifth Amendments. The court’s ruling means TikTok could face a ban unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agrees to sell the platform to a non-Chinese entity by January 19, 2025. Failure to meet this deadline could result in significant fines for U.S. app stores and internet services hosting the app. The law does allow President Biden to extend the deadline once.
In response, TikTok announced plans to appeal the ruling. Company spokesperson Michael Hughes argued, “The Supreme Court has a strong track record of protecting free speech, and we trust it will uphold this important constitutional principle. Unfortunately, the TikTok ban is based on flawed information and could silence over 170 million American users.”
The law, signed by President Biden in April 2024, was driven by national security concerns regarding ByteDance's potential access to American user data and fears that the Chinese government could influence TikTok’s algorithm for propaganda purposes. TikTok filed a lawsuit in May to block the law, claiming it infringed on free speech rights and unfairly targeted the platform.
ByteDance has expressed its refusal to sell TikTok, setting the stage for further legal battles as the deadline approaches.
In their ruling, the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit acknowledged that TikTok’s American users “create and view all sorts of free expression and engage with one another and the world.” However, they wrote, “in part precisely because of the platform’s expansive reach, Congress and multiple Presidents determined that divesting it from the People’s Republic of China’s control is essential to protect our national security.”
The court’s ruling largely deferred to Congress, finding that lawmakers acted within their constitutional powers and followed appropriate procedures in crafting the TikTok law. The legislation “narrowly” addressed the specific problem of TikTok’s ties to China and “does not suppress content or require a certain mix of content.”
“People in the United States would remain free to read and share as much PRC propaganda (or any other content) as they desire on TikTok or any other platform of their choosing,” the judges said. “What the Act targets is the PRC’s ability to manipulate the content covertly. Understood in that way, the Government’s justification is wholly consonant with the First Amendment.”
The judges dismissed TikTok’s objections to the U.S. government’s national security concerns, stating that TikTok only “quibbles” with how U.S. officials have characterized its data practices and that TikTok’s defense of its data collection “misses the forest for the trees.”
A key issue in the case was a proposed deal with U.S. national security officials that TikTok claimed would have resolved the potential spying concerns. During the litigation, TikTok implied that the U.S. government acted in bad faith by pursuing negotiations for months before suddenly cutting off communication and then backing the legislation that Biden ultimately signed. U.S. government lawyers argued that the draft deal was insufficient to resolve the security concerns.
On Friday, the judges sided with the U.S. government on the deal negotiations, stating they “can neither fault nor second guess” the determination by U.S. officials that the draft deal with TikTok didn’t go far enough. TikTok users quickly reacted to the ruling on Friday morning. One user expressed concern about the potential ban, stating, “This is nuts. I don’t want (Meta CEO) Mark Zuckerberg to own TikTok, that won’t make me feel better.” Another user remained hopeful that TikTok would not be banned in the U.S. but acknowledged that the situation looked grim.
If TikTok is unable to successfully appeal or spin off from ByteDance, the ban could go into effect one day before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Although Trump initially tried to ban TikTok during his previous term, he has recently suggested that he no longer wants to ban the app. In March, Trump posted on Truth Social that he opposed a ban on TikTok because it would only benefit its industry rival, Facebook, and Zuckerberg, whom Trump has accused—without evidence—of interfering in the 2020 presidential election. Trump added in June, in a video posted to TikTok, that he would “never ban TikTok.” However, it remains unclear whether Trump will be able to undo the law or find a way around enforcing it.
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