Judge Denies TikTok Appeal of US Ban

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has denied an appeal by TikTok, upholding a ban that will go into effect in January.

The Biden administration followed through on what the Trump administration had previously tried, banning TikTok over national security concerns. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent, has until January 19 to sell the social media app’s US operations or it will be banned.

According to The New York Times, the three-judge panel upheld the ban, throwing out an argument by ByteDance that the ban unfairly targeted the app and infringed on users’ First Amendment rights. The judges said the law banning TikTok was “carefully crafted to deal with only control by a foreign adversary,” and therefore the First Amendment wasn’t an issue.

“The government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States,” the judges continued.

TikTok has vowed to fight the ban all the way to the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” said company spokesperson Michael Hughes, saying the ban amounted to “outright censorship of the American people.”

Despite TikTok’s stand, it seems unlikely that the Supreme Court will overturn the ban, especially given the argument presented by the appeals court.

What’s more, there is little hope the incoming Trump administration will overturn the ban. While Trump has hinted at plans to save TikTok, those plans likely involve ByteDance giving up control of its US operations, much like Trump’s initial attempt to ban the app during his first term. In addition, Trump has made escalating the trade war with China a critical theme of his second term, adding to the unlikelihood of any meaningful attempt to reverse the ban.

Either way, the future of TikTok in the US is looking increasingly bleak.

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