A United States federal appeals court this Friday supported the law that could ban the social network TikTok in the country, alleging threats to national security due to the platform’s data collection.
The three judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals came out in favor of the law passed by Congress in April, which forces TikTok to separate from its parent company in China, ByteDance, or it will be banned in the United States next Januaryas reported by EFE.
“The State acted solely to protect its liberty from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to collect data about individuals in the United States,” the court stated.
Although the court recognized the implications that a possible ban could have for millions of users, it warned that if the platform does not comply with the requirements it could not be available in the country “at least for a while.”
January, deadline for the sale of TikTok in the US
Specifically, federal law gave ByteDance nine months (until January 19) for find an investor from a country that is not considered an “adversary” of the United States to sell its operations in the North American nation. Otherwise, the application would have to stop operating in the country.
The social network faced the country in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to try to maintain its presence in the US market, where it has 170 million users.
Now, the platform can appeal the Court’s opinion to the United States Supreme Court to try to stop the ban. In fact, both TikTok and the Department of Justice requested that this ruling be issued before December 6 so that the high court could consider any appeal before the veto came into effect.
The Joe Biden Administration and congressmen from the Democratic and Republican parties fear that The Chinese Government can obtain information about users in the United States from ByteDance and use its influence on American public opinion by manipulating what people see on the app.
The president can extend the ban period up to three more months if it certifies that the company is progressing according to what the United States expects. If not modified, the ban would come into effect on his last day in the White House, since the next day, President-elect Donald Trump will assume the Presidency. The Republican leader, for his part, who tried to ban the platform during his first term, said during the election campaign that if he were the winner he would “save TikTok in the United States.”
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