A federal appeals court upheld the law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the US in the middle of next month, jeopardizing the future of one of the country’s largest social networks. Unanimously and citing the national security concerns that the Department of Justice (DOJ) raised about the application owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, A panel of judges from the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC established that the law will remain in place and the platform could be banned in US territory next year.
“We conclude that the parts of the law, which the defendants have a right to challenge, namely the provisions relating to TikTok and its related entities, withstand constitutional scrutiny. Therefore, we deny the petitions,” Justice Douglas Ginsburg issued in the majority session of the court. And he added that millions of users will have to find alternative means of communication.
The case could go to the Supreme Court
This body could allow the appeal ruling to stand. In any case, the decision is likely to raise questions for President-elect Donald Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 but recently backed down, citing the move as giving an advantage to his competitor, Meta. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we hope they will do just that on this important constitutional issue.”TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and driven based on inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”
Trump’s transition team and the DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. TikTok filed a lawsuit in May, after President Biden signed the PAFACA (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) law.which forces ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations to a non-Chinese company by January 19, otherwise its app will be blocked from the country’s app stores. The platform argued that PAFACA attacks it for the content on its platform, violating the First Amendment. A coalition of TikTok creators also joined the case, alleging that their freedom of expression would be violated if more than 170 million Americans are forced to leave the platform.
The appeals court ruled today that PAFACA does not violate TikTok’s free speech rights. “The government does not suppress content or require a certain mix of content. The platform could remain unchanged after the divestment, and people in the US would still be free to read and share as much as they want on TikTok or any other platform of their choice “Justice Ginsburg wrote.
“Congress found it necessary to take that risk given the serious threats to national security it perceived. And given that the record reflects a thoughtful decision, consistent with long-standing regulatory practice, and devoid of an institutional objective to suppress messages or ideas, we are not in a position to leave it aside,” Justice Sri Srinivasan suggested. Previously, the DOJ and TikTok had requested that the ruling be expedited to this week. If the law is confirmed, the ban on the social network could come into effect as soon as one day before Trump’s inauguration, in January 2025.
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Two scenarios: change ownership or negotiate
However, the app will most likely survive a few more months. The 90-day extension of the deadline remains on the Biden administration’s table, which would leave the issue in Trump’s hands. The safest scenario is for ByteDance to appeal the court decision and then take it to the High Court, which is expected to take up the case and issue its decision late next year.
This ruling is not a surprise to those who have followed the case closely. In oral arguments before the Court of Appeals in September, the justices appeared to have accepted the idea that the app “was a valid national security issue for the United States.” The question left open to interpretation was whether the ban could cause harm to freedom of expression. In this last session, the judges gave a resounding no in response.
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