Is the US banning TikTok? ByteDance files emergency motion
TikTokTikTok has filed an emergency motion for an injunction to prevent the platform’s ban after the US Court of Appeals denied TikTok’s petition to review the law, which would have paused enforcement of the potential ban.
Over the last few years, the United States government has had several attempts to prevent TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, from having access to the data of US citizens due to data privacy concerns and its connection to the Chinese Communist Party.
The most recent move involves a bill that forces ByteDance to sell off its US operations within nine months from April 24, 2024, or face a ‘ban’ in the country. Here’s everything we know.
Is TikTok getting banned in the USA?
At the time of writing, the government in the United States of America has not announced a ban on TikTok in the country – but has passed a law that requires its parent company to sell off its US operations.
On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill that requires ByteDance to divest its US TikTok operations, selling it to a non-adversarial company. If they have a pending sale when that nine-month timer runs out, the US will provide ByteDance with a three-month extension.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew quickly issued a statement after Biden signed the bill into law, further revealing that they plan on fighting the decision in the courts immediately.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, a ban on you, and a ban on your voice,” he said. “Many who sponsored the bill admit a TikTok ban is their ultimate goal.”
“Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts.”
TikTok appeal denied by US court
Shortly after President Biden signed the bill forcing ByteDance to divest the short-form video platform, the company filed a lawsuit fighting against it.
They slammed the bill as “unconstitutional” in the filing that was revealed through a TikTok blog post.
“Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok: a vibrant online forum for protected speech and expression used by 170 million Americans to create, share,
and view videos over the Internet,” they said.
“That law — the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) — is unconstitutional.”
On Friday, December 6, the US Court of Appeals denied TikTok’s petition to review the law, which would put the ban on hold while it was being done.
Forbes says TikTok is expected to appeal the ban in the Supreme Court before January 19, as that’s when the divest-or-ban period is set to end.
TikTok files emergency motion to stop ban
On December 9, TikTok announced it had filed an emergency motion to stop the January 19 ban from going into effect until its appeal of the decision by the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is heard by the US Supreme Court.
TikTok argued that the ban will have a catastrophic effect on American businesses. “Estimates show that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month unless the TikTok Ban is halted,” they said.
The filing further added that the ban would “inflict irreparable injury by silencing Petitioners and the 170 million Americans who use the platform each month.”
We will update this article as further developments become known.