TikTok inches closer to a US ban after judges shoot down appeal

Three judges shot down ByteDance’s petition to overturn a law that could ban TikTok in the US. On Friday, The New York Times reported that the judges upheld the new law, which requires the company to sell the app to a non-Chinese company by January 19 or face a ban.

ByteDance argued that the law unfairly targets TikTok and that a ban would violate users’ First Amendment rights. The company has said a sale is impossible because the Chinese government would block it. In 2020, the country updated export control rules to give it more say over a potential transaction.

In a statement to Engadget, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said it was disappointed in the decision. “Restricting the free flow of information, even from foreign adversaries, is fundamentally undemocratic,” an EFF spokesperson wrote. “Until now, the U.S. has championed the free flow of information and called out other nations when they have shut down internet access or banned online communications tools like social media apps.”

ByteDance’s options from here include appealing to the US Supreme Court (although there’s no guarantee they would take the case) or hoping President-elect Donald Trump follows through on a vague promise to “deliver” on a plan to save the app. ByteDance suggested on Friday that the decision amounted to censorship, saying it expects the Supreme Court to protect “Americans’ right to free speech.”

The NYT reports that legal experts don’t see much of a legal path for Trump to rescue the app after taking office on January 20, 2025. During his first term, he issued executive orders restricting American dealings with the app, citing national security concerns and suggesting the app could be a Trojan Horse for data harvesting by the Chinese government. Microsoft was ready and willing to buy it if given the chance. The ban faced a series of legal challenges, and President Biden revoked the order in 2021.

Trump reversed his position in early 2024, reportedly after meeting with a Republican megadonor with a significant financial stake in the app. The president-elect’s shift intensified after Biden signed the law that could lead to its ban in early 2025. By the time election season was in full swing, Trump had recast himself as TikTok’s savior and used it as a wedge issue to attract younger users to his campaign.