Supreme Court Faces Pivotal Decision: TikTok Ban Looms Over the US

A federal appeals court on Friday (Dec. 13) refused to temporarily halt a law that could potentially ban TikTok in the United States. This decision paves the way for a legal dispute in the Supreme Court over whether the law should be enforced while legal proceedings regarding the social media platform are ongoing.

Last week, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the law, allowing it to take effect starting January 19. A few days later, TikTok requested the court to temporarily delay the ban while awaiting a review of its lawsuit by the Supreme Court.

However, the request was denied in a brief unsigned order, stating that such a temporary block lacked sufficient grounds. The law mandates ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell the platform to a non-Chinese owner or face a complete ban in the United States.

If the law goes into effect after the January deadline, internet services and app stores in the United States could face significant penalties for hosting TikTok. The law also grants the president the authority to extend the deadline once.

TikTok has indicated that if its appeal is denied, it will ask the Supreme Court to take emergency action to block the law. This request could be submitted at any time.

In court documents, TikTok’s attorneys argued that failing to block the law temporarily would force the Supreme Court to address the issue on short notice, possibly during the holiday season. They urged the court to issue a temporary ruling to allow for a more orderly legal process.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's administration urged the appeals court not to issue a delay on the law, arguing that it could postpone the legal process for months and effectively halt the law's implementation indefinitely.

The law, passed with bipartisan support by Congress earlier this year and signed in April, was introduced in response to long-standing concerns in Washington that ByteDance, as a China-based company, posed potential national security risks.

In its ruling, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the law did not violate the U.S. Constitution and met the legal standard known as strict scrutiny, which is applied to determine whether government restrictions on free speech are justified.

The court's decision stated that the law was the culmination of significant bipartisan efforts by Congress and previous administrations, carefully designed to address foreign influence. It also highlighted the decision as part of broader efforts to address credible national security threats.

However, TikTok argued that the Supreme Court should have the final say on critical legal issues central to the case. They asserted that the law might be a rare example of a policy that survives strict scrutiny, a claim they deemed worthy of the Supreme Court's review.

ByteDance has previously indicated that it has no intention of selling TikTok.