TikTok Faces Imminent Ban as Appeals Court Rejects Pause #

Legal Battle Intensifies with Supreme Court as Potential Final Arbiter #

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a temporary pause on the TikTok ban, calling such a block ‘unwarranted.’ This decision paves the way for the Supreme Court to potentially decide the fate of the popular video-sharing app.

A law signed in April required TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, to be sold to a non-Chinese company. The appeals court recently upheld this law, citing national security concerns.

The Biden administration argued against issuing a temporary block, suggesting it might allow the company to delay the case indefinitely.

The Supreme Court could make a quick decision on the case. Both TikTok and the federal government previously asked for an expedited ruling to allow for an appeal before the January 19 ban.

If the ban takes effect, it would not directly prohibit the continued use of TikTok for its more than 170 million monthly users. However, users should not expect any more updates or the ability to download the app.

Two House leaders sent a bipartisan letter to Apple and Google parent company Alphabet, instructing them to prepare to remove TikTok from their US app stores on January 19.

TikTok will also be unavailable on internet hosting platforms, with users expecting the app to eventually become unworkable.

There’s still some hope that TikTok could remain active in the United States, though ByteDance has previously indicated it will not sell it.

The ban’s legislation allows for a one-time, 90-day extension if progress toward a sale is determined. The incoming president could potentially take actions to prevent the ban, including asking Congress to repeal the law, directing the attorney general not to enforce it, or announcing that TikTok is no longer subject to the law.