TikTok filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court on Monday to block a law that could lead to the short video app being banned nationwide from January 19, 2025.
The move comes after a federal appeals court upheld a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the property due to “national security concerns.”
TikTok’s appeal argues that the law violates the First Amendment rights of 170 million US users. The company has asked the Supreme Court to stay enforcement of the law while its case is heard.
The timing of the appeal comes as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on 20 January. On Monday, reports emerged that Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club.
The day before, Trump said in an interview that he “has a warm place in his heart for TikTok,” and promised to “look into blocking the platform.”
The law to protect Americans from apps controlled by foreign adversaries was passed in April this year over concerns that TikTok could “facilitate espionage or propaganda by the Chinese government.”
If the law goes into effect, TikTok and other services controlled by “countries unfriendly to the United States” will lose the right to provide certain services in the country – in particular, Apple and Google will be banned from distributing their apps. In order to avoid this measure, which is effectively tantamount to blocking, ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, must sell the platform by the deadline.
